Progress on Experimental Study of Melt Pool Flow Dynamics in Laser Material Processing

Laser material processing has becoming a rapid developing technology due to the flexibility of laser tool. Melt pool is the main product from the interaction between laser and material and its features has a great impact on the heat transfer, solidification behavior, and defects formation. Thus, understanding changes to melt pool flow is essential to obtain good fabricated product. This chapter presents a review of the experimental studies on melt pool flow dynamics for laser welding and laser additive manufacturing. The mechanisms of melt pool convection and its principal affecting factors are first presented. Researches on melt flow visualization using direct and indirect experimental methods are then reviewed and discussed.