Strength Properties of Ultrasonic-Assisted Laser Welded Stainless Steel 321

Mechanical characteristics of laser welded stainless steel 321 joints are mainly determined by the welding process parameters such as welding speed and shielding gas feed rate. Small deviation from their optimal values may result in formation of a defect and reducing the joint strength. The use of ultrasonic-assisted laser welding procedure allows expanding the optimal range of the process parameters without affecting the joint strength. In this paper, it is revealed that the stainless steel samples obtained by the laser welding at various regimes have tensile strength from 579 to 592 MPa. In turn, the use of ultrasonic made it possible to obtain welds with a strength changes from 607 to 612 MPa.