| Abstract Scope |
In this study, thin foil 316L stainless steel was welded using a fiber laser with different beam shapes from spot, doughnut to spot-wobble at a wavelength of 1070 nm in a continuous wave (CW) mode. Five different welding speeds (400, 500, 600, 800, and 1000 mm/s) were used in the absence of shielding gas.The weld geometry, microstructure, lap shear strength, and crystallographic texture of the micro-joints were investigated and correlated with the different laser beam shapes. The results indicate that the spot-wobble beam could achieve the highest tensile strength and was the optimal beam shape during the high-power laser welding. This study demonstrated that the shape of the laser beam significantly affected the weldability of the thin foil stainless steel plate. |