Abstract:The joining of DP780 steel to Al5052 was conducted by laser lap welding, in which the metal vapor and spatters were monitored by a high-speed camera. A universal testing machine was used to test the mechanical properties of the welded joints, and the changing law of lap tensile resistance with the laser welding parameters was analyzed. Optical microscope and scanning electron microscope were used to observe the macro-structure and micro-structure, respectively. Three different intermetallic compounds (IMCs) phases, i.e. banded Fe₂Al₅, FeAl₂ and needle-like FeAl₃ were generated at the steel/Al interface on microscopic observation. The aim of this research is to investigate the relationship among the lap tensile resistance, the welding parameters and the failure mode under different energy densities. Experimental results showed that the steel/Al joints have two different fracture modes at low heat input and high heat input. The failures happened along the heat-affected zone of the weld and along the steel/Al joint interface, respectively. And both of the two failure modes are brittle fractures. Additionally, cracks appeared at the fracture interface, and needle-like particle clusters were found in the fracture microstructure.

Key words: laser lap welding; tensile resistance; microstructure; failure modes