Study on laser welding of zinc coated steel and the effects of zinc vaporization

This paper report an investigation of laser beam butt-welding of zinc coated sheet for automobile use.The effects of the vaporization of zinc on the plasma formation are discussed.It is shown that the laser beam mode and the plasma-controlling gas flow rate are the most important parameters for obtaining a high quality joint.Successful butt joint beads with similar mechanical property to that of the base metal were obtained.