The effect of laser pulse tailored welding of Inconel 718

Pulse tailored laser welding has been applied to wrought, wrought grain grown, and cast Inconel 718 using a CO2 laser. Prior to welding, the material was characterized metallographically and the solid state transformation regions were identified using Differential Scanning Calorimetry and high temperature x-ray diffraction. Bead on plate welds (restrained and unrestrained) were then produced using a matrix of pulse duty cycles and pulsed average power. Subsequent characterization included heat affected zone width, penetration and underbead width, the presence of cracks, microfissures and porosity, fusion zone curvature, and precipitation and liquated region width. Pedigree welding on three selected processing conditions was shown by microstructural and dye penetrant analysis to produce no microfissures, a result which strongly indicates the viability of pulse tailored welding for microfissure free IN 718.