Fatigue behavior of 8 mm thick steel butt joints performed with hybrid laser arc welding

In the present research, the hybrid laser arc welding (HLAW) process has been applied to join 8 mm thick structural S355J2N steel under 1G configuration. Welding tests were performed at the Laser Welding Advanced Center available at the University of Cadiz, Spain. Different experimental welding parameters were fitted to obtain sound butt welds. The welds were subjected to different quality control tests, including visual inspection, metallographic characterization, microhardness measurements, and tensile and fatigue tests. The HLAW tests were performed at higher welding rates in 1G configuration than previously reported for 8 mm thick steels. Complete penetration was achieved in all welds, presenting suitable geometries without defects such as cracks, root humps, or porosities. Microhardness values measured at different welding zones were always below 350 HV. All welds broke at the base metal in the tensile tests. The present contribution reports novel fatigue results for these butt hybrid welds. The samples welded at the highest welding rate (2.5 m/min) were the ones providing the best fatigue response, due to the lower heat input applied under this condition.