Thermal cycle and its influence on the microstructure of laser welded butt joint of 8 mm thick Ti-6Al-4V alloy

Ti-6Al-4V alloy is extensively used in the manufacture of components in aviation. In the current study, the laser welding process is adopted to joint the Ti-6Al-4V alloy plate which has the thick of 8 mm. A three-dimensional finite element model is established to simulate the temperature distribution of laser welding process. The thermal cycle curves are produced on the strength of the simulation results. Meanwhile, the microstructure characteristics of the welded joint are investigated combined with simulation results. The results show that weld zone, heat affected zone and based metal experience similar thermal cycles process and the cooling rate has an important influence on the formation of microstructure. Moreover, the simulation results are well matched with experiment results.