Influence of heat input on bead profile and microstructure characteristics in laser and laser-hybrid welding of Inconel 617 alloy

Bead profile and microstructure analysis are greatly influenced by heat input in any welding process. The present work provides a comprehensive comparative investigation on these aspects during Autogenous Laser welding (ALW) and Laser-MIG Hybrid welding (LHW) processes in Inconel 617 superalloy. In case of LHW, weld bead profile formed was a typical wine-cup shaped one, whereas, in case of ALW, bead profile observed was Y-type shape on account of differences in number of heat sources and intensity profiles. Weld bead width and penetration depth were found to increase with heat input in both ALW and LHW processes. The fusion zone (FZ) area of LHW was found to increase by 3 times as compared to ALW as a result of high heat input in LHW than ALW. Indeed, the addition of MIG source to laser in LHW produced wide upper bead width (trebled) as compared to ALW. Radius of curvature (ROC) at neck zone, an important bead profile characteristic for assessing liquation cracking susceptibility, was found to increase with heat input and was significantly higher in LHW than ALW due to heat stagnation at neck zone. In comparison with ALW, LHW showed a coarser columnar/cellular dendritic microstructure in FZ with segregation of inter-dendritic carbides relatively richer in Mo and Cr. Secondary dendritic arm spacing (SDAS), cooling rates and microhardness will also be discussed. © 2022 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.