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Highlights • Two mechanisms are responsible for keyhole-induced bubble formation. • The pressure balance equation is proposed to analyze the breaking of molten bridge by laser beam. • Large bubble and small bubble have high coalescence efficiency. Abstract Laser welding experiment with the aid of glass, and numerical simulation are carried out to study the keyhole behavior and keyhole-induced bubble formation. Two mechanisms are responsible for keyhole-induced bubble formation. The first mechanism is the strong fluid flow inside the weld pool, and the capillary instability of the whole keyhole, causing the collapse between rear keyhole wall and front keyhole wall. This mechanism contributes to most of keyhole-induced bubble formation. The second mechanism is the instability of the rear keyhole wall caused by the increase absorption of laser energy reflected by the bulge at front keyhole wall. The breaking of molten bridge is analyzed based on static pressure balance. The molten bridge with large curvature and low temperature is difficult to be broken. Bubble coalescence can be clearly observed at the bottom of the weld pool. Large bubble and small bubble have high coalescence efficiency. The bubbles at keyhole bottom have more time to escape without broken by laser beam, and the bottom part of rear keyhole wall is more easily depressed, so bubbles are easily formed at the keyhole bottom. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The droplet escape condition is established, a three-dimensional numerical model is built to investigate the behavior of the weld pool in fiber laser welding of 5083 aluminum alloy, the shear stress caused by the metallic vapor flow that has great influence on spatter formation is considered. A high speed photography system is used to capture the transient images of the weld pool, the spatter formation is discussed. The numerical and experimental results show that the spatters generate mainly around the keyhole. Two factors are responsible for the spatter formation: the surface tension of the molten metal around the keyhole is low. The recoil pressure caused by evaporation and the shear stress caused by metallic vapor flow accelerate the upward moving melt around the keyhole. Increasing the welding speed and placing the nozzle at the trailing position can decrease the upward momentum of the molten metal around the keyhole, and stabilize the keyhole, which are help to suppress the formation of spatter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]