Comparative Analysis of Vaporization Rates of 5456 Aluminum Alloying Elements during CO2 Laser Welding
In this paper, the vaporization rates of Mg2+ and Al+ alloying elements of a 5456 aluminum plate were investigated using the CO2 laser welding process. The models proposed and used by Block-Bolten and Eagar in 1984 and Zhao and DebRoy in 2003 were applied with experimental results generated from this study. The vaporization rate of Mg2+ ions and Al+ ions using the equations proposed by Block-Bolten and Eagar gave 8.76 μgs-1cm-2 and 0.0465 μgs-1cm-2 respectively, whereas the equation proposed by Zhao and DebRoy gave 6.7 μgs-1cm-2 and 0.016 μgs-1cm-2 respectively. These values are within the reported values obtained by Block-Bolten and Eagar (1984). The heat transfer coefficient for Mg2+ and Al+ ions were also obtained. The vapor bubble radius including the surface tension and buoyancy forces were examined. The evaporative power and energy losses as a result of these bubbles’ collapse were calculated. The paper clearly shows the comparative analysis of alloying elements’ vaporization process in the aluminum metal heating process.