Abstract
Laser welding process is widely used in the industrial field due to its numerous advantages: a small heat affected zone(HAZ), deep penetration, high welding speed, ease of automation, single-pass thick section capability, enhanced design flexibility, and small distortion after welding. The objective of this research works is to investigate the influence of the process parameters, such as the welding fur metals with CW Nd:YAG lasers. The bead-on-plate and Lap welding experiments are carried out for several combinations of the experimental conditions. In order to quantitatively examine the characteristics of the welding quality of the cross section, tensile stress behavior and the hardness of the welded part are investigated in comparison of the Nickel coated and Nickel uncoated S45C steel. As a result of experiment, nickel coated S45C Steel showed more even weld zone than Nickel uncoated counterpart upon lap welding. Also, it showed relatively small amount of internal defects and spatter, and Nickel coated S45C showed better weldability than Nickel uncoated S45C steel. The optimum welding process upon lap welding of Nickel coated S45C steel is when each laser power is 1900W; focal positions is -1mm; welding speed is $0.9{\sim}1.0m/min$. The heat input was $4.178{\sim}4.36{\times}103J/cm^2$.