Effect of ND: YAG Pulsed Laser Welding Parameters on Microstructural Evolutions and Mechanical Properties of 2205 Duplex Stainless Steel

The Nd: YAG pulsed laser welding process with different speed and shielding gas was applied on 2205 duplex stainless steel. The effects of different parameters on the microstructural evolutions and mechanical properties were investigated. Four different zones with different secondary austenite contents were observed in the weld microstructure. By changing the shielding gas from argon to nitrogen, the secondary austenite percentage was not significantly varied. The secondary austenite fraction was showed about 38% reduction with increasing the welding speed. The weld penetration depth decreased with changing the shielding gas from argon to nitrogen (about 26% and 14% reduction at speed of 3.8 and 8.3 mm/s, respectively) and increasing the welding speed (about 43% and 34% reduction under shielding gas of argon and nitrogen, respectively). The variations in microhardness values along the weld line were correlated to the microstructural characterizations. Changing the welding speed had no significant effect on the microhardness variations, but changing the shielding gas from argon to nitrogen caused a significant increase of microhardness.