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Article

A Comparative Study of Arc Welding and Laser Welding for the Fabrication and Repair of Multi-Layer Hydro Plant Bellows

by
Lichao Cao
1,
Kaiming Lv
2,*,
Zhengjun Liu
2,
Guoying Tu
2,
Yi Zhang
2,
Han Hu
2,
Zirui Yang
1,
Huikang Wang
2,
Hao Zhang
1 and
Guijun Bi
1,*
1
Institute of Intelligent Manufacturing, Guangdong Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510070, China
2
China Yangtze Power Co., Ltd., No. 1 Jianshe Road, Xiba, Xiling District, Yichang 443002, China
*
Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Appl. Sci. 2025, 15(6), 3387; https://doi.org/10.3390/app15063387
Submission received: 6 January 2025 / Revised: 28 February 2025 / Accepted: 17 March 2025 / Published: 20 March 2025
(This article belongs to the Section Applied Physics General)
Browse Figures
Versions Notes

Abstract

:
The development of clean energy resources, including hydro power, plays an important role in protecting the global environment. Multi-layer bellows are key components and are widely used in hydro power plants. Due to the special multi-layer structures, conventional arc welding is prone to the defects of pores and insufficient fusion when fabricating or repairing such bellows. Precise laser welding with a high energy density and a low heat input has the potential to join multi-layer bellows in a high-quality manner. In this study, a comparative investigation was conducted on the arc welding and laser welding of multi-layer 316L stainless steel sheets and B610CF high-strength steel plates regarding the weld quality, microstructure and tensile properties. The results show that laser-welded joints produced a narrower heat-affected zone and a full weld without visible defects. Compared with arc welding, laser welding had more equiaxed grain regions in the fusion zone and a homogeneous elemental distribution in the heat-affected zone. This led to a more reliable welded joint using laser welding.

1. Introduction

With the rapid development of industries and technologies, the demand for electricity continues to expand [1]. Currently, burning fossil fuels is still the main method of generating electricity for civil use, resulting in environmental pollution and the greenhouse effect [2]. Therefore, the development of clean energy resources, including hydro power, plays an important role in satisfying the needs of social industries and protecting the global environment. Metal bellows are a key and elastic component of a hydro power plant, designed to accommodate the movement, vibration and thermal expansion of hydro power components [3,4]. According to their structure, bellows fall into two groups: one-layer bellows and multi-layer bellows. Lin et al. [5] reported that a lower forming residual stress could be obtained by applying multi-layer bellows, in comparison to one-layer bellows. This is attributed to the narrower plastic strain region of multi-layer bellows during forming. Liu et al. [6] studied the deformation behaviors of four-layered bellows, and found that the differences in equivalent stresses among the four layers were neglectable in hydroforming. Yu et al. [7] proposed that the design of metal bellows should be reasonable, considering the effect of residual stresses. Thus, metal multi-layer bellows are widely used in hydro plants.
In industrial applications, the joints between metal bellows and other components are the weakest link in hydro power plants because they accommodate stresses and displacement within the system. Gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW) and gas metal arc welding (GMAW) are often applied to join them [8,9,10,11]. Due to their special multi-layer structures, the interlayers of multi-layer bellows before the arc welding processes are difficult to clean fully, leading to the formation of pores [12,13]. Moreover, during multi-layer and multi-pass welding processes, the strong plastic deformation of multi-layer bellows, which is caused by heat accumulation and enlarged interlayer distances and is prone to the defect of insufficient fusion [14,15]. Sun et al. [16,17] predicted residual stresses in joints fabricated by arc welding, and found that both a moving heat source and thermal cycles are important in the prediction of the residual stresses of welding. Shen et al. [18] studied the tensile properties of GTAW joints and found that the fracture site occurred in the heat-affected zone (HAZ) of 316L stainless steel parts, which is related to the effect of large plastic deformation in the soft HAZ and the function of stress concentration induced by the presence of the sigma (σ) phase. Silva et al. [19] investigated the susceptibility to stress corrosion cracking of 316L stainless steel joints, and micro-cracks were observed in the soft HAZ owing to the increased susceptibility to pit initiation. In conclusion, reducing the soft region in joints and avoiding the presence of the σ phase are necessary in terms of obtaining good weld joints. Different from conventional arc welding methods, precise laser welding has the ability to improve welding properties by manipulating the weld interface carefully [20,21,22,23]. In addition, laser welding methods often have a narrow HAZ and defect-free weld seams due to their high energy density and low heat input [24,25,26,27,28]. Roshith et al. [29] used different welding methods to join stainless steel plates, and the results showed that the bead width was 11 mm in arc welding and 2 mm in laser welding, respectively. Therefore, the laser welding method has the potential to join multi-layer bellows and other components together in a high-quality manner.
In this work, the process experiments of GTAW and laser welding with filler wire were carried out to weld dissimilar metals: multi-layer 316L austenitic stainless-steel sheets and one-layer high-strength steel plate. Firstly, the effects of the two welding processes on weld formation were studied via experimental processes. The regions of the HAZ and fusion zone (FZ) were compared for GTAW and laser welding. Then, the microstructural characteristics of the welded joints created by different welding processes were investigated using optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy to analyze the types and growth directions of crystal microstructures. The correlation between microstructure and mechanical properties was further discussed. The aim is to study the microstructure and mechanical properties of joints under different welding processes, in order to determine a suitable welding process for the fabrication and repair of multi-layer bellows.

2. Materials and Methods

Both the 316L austenitic stainless-steel sheets and the B610CF high-strength steel plate for dissimilar welding were in their annealed states. The chemical compositions of the materials are listed in Table 1. Due to the special structure of metal multi-layer bellows, multi-layer 316L steel sheets with a thickness of 1.5 mm and one-layer high-strength steel with a thickness of 8 mm were welded. As shown in Figure 1, comparative experiments of V-groove multi-layer multi-bead welding using GTAW and laser welding with filling wire were carried out. The filler wire in dissimilar welding is 316L austenitic stainless steel with a diameter of 2.5 mm in GTAW and a diameter of 1.2 mm in laser welding. The equipment used includes a manual GTAW system and a manual laser welding system with a wire feeder. An ITG-500AP welding machine (Institute of Intelligent Manufacturing, Guangzhou, China) with a maximum voltage of 30 V and a maximum current of 500 A, and a DoF-HLW-2000 laser (Institute of Intelligent Manufacturing, Guangzhou, China) with a maximum power of 2000 W were used in the manual GTAW and laser welding experiments, respectively. The wire feeding nozzle was fixed at the front of the laser head or arc torch, and the wire was fed into the molten pool on the surface at an angle of 30° with respect to the workpiece surface. In order to avoid oxidation, argon was used as a shielding gas during the whole welding processes. Prior to welding, the workpiece surface was cleaned with ethanol. Firstly, the adjacent plates of multi-layer bellows were welded, as depicted in Figure 1c. And then, the 316L multi-layer bellows and the one-layer high-strength steel were welded by V-groove multi-layer multi-bead welding. The detailed welding parameters are given in Table 2. The V-groove angle was 60°, and the root butt clearance was 1.5 mm.
In order to detect the internal defects of the welded joints, a Doppler PHASCAN II (Guangzhou Doppler Electronic Technologies Incorporated Company, Guangzhou, China) ultrasonic device was used for defect inspection after welding. The cross-sectional samples and tensile samples were taken by wire electric discharge machining. The metallographic samples were ground with sandpapers of different mesh sizes, and polished with a 0.5 μm diamond paste, and then etched with a solution (5 g CuCl2 + 5 g HCl +100 mL alcohol). A DM3000 Optical Microscope (OM, Leica GmbH, Wetzlar, Germany), a QUANTA 200 Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM, FEI, Rock Hill, SC, USA) and an energy dispersive spectroscope (EDS) were used to characterize the microstructure. The microhardness test was conducted using an HV-1000A Vickers instrument (Laizhou Huayin Testing Company, Laizhou, China) with a load of 300 g and an adjacent position spacing of 1 mm. According to the GB/T228.1-2021 standard [30] in Figure 1d, the tensile tests were carried out using an Hb250 electromechanical universal testing machine (Zwick/Roell GmbH, Ulm, Germany) at ambient temperature with a strain rate of 10 mm/min. Three tensile specimens with a gauge length of 80 mm were prepared for each welding process. After the tensile tests, the fracture morphology of the tensile specimens was observed using SEM.

3. Results and Discussion

3.1. Forming Quality

Figure 2 shows the quality of the weldments obtained via optical observation and ultrasonic inspection. The results reveal that dissimilar stainless steel 316L multi-layer bellows and one-layer B610CF high-strength steel plates were fully welded, and that the FZ was free of defects, such as a lack of fusion, cracks or porosities. By comparing the weldment surface welded by GTAW and laser welding, the width of the FZ and HAZ in GTAW was much wider than that in laser welding due to the big heat accumulation of GTAW. Furthermore, cross-sectional specimens of the weldments were observed. As seen in Figure 3, the profiles of the FZs of both welding methods were different. The widths of the FZs in the upper region were 11.7 mm under GTAW and 8.2 mm under laser welding, respectively. The widths of the FZs in the middle region were similar. However, there existed a defect of insufficient fusion in the bottom region of the FZ in the GTAW experiment, which resulted from the limited penetration of the arc. The results of ultrasonic inspection and optical observation indicated that, although the dissimilar plates were welded by GTAW without obvious and continuous defects, a lack of fusion was detected in the bottom zone of GTAW FZ. The joint created by laser welding exhibited a full weld without visible defects, demonstrating excellent metallurgical compatibility between the 316L stainless steel and the B610CF high-strength steel.

3.2. Microstructural Characteristics

In the welding process of multi-layer bellows, the key to welding quality is the bonding between the weldments and the 316L multi-layer bellows. 316L is a widely used stainless steel, comprising the austenitic microstructure. As exhibited in Figure 4a, the base metal of 316L displays an equiaxed grain structure with a similar grain size. Figure 4b–i shows the cross-sectional microstructure of the joints fabricated by GTAW. There exists a distinct microstructure in the FZ and HAZ, compared to the base metal. Regarding the grain morphologies, three types of grains can be observed across the joints: equiaxed grains, columnar grains, and dendrite grains with developed secondary dendrites. Near the molten pool boundary in Figure 4b, dendrite grains are located in the FZ and equiaxed grains in the HAZ. Both the HAZ region and the base metal region presented similar equiaxed grain structures, but the grain size of the HAZ near the melting boundary was smaller than that of the base metal. Columnar grains are obvious near the melting boundary between the adjacent-layer welding, as depicted in Figure 4d. In the region far from the melting boundary, the equiaxed grain region is seen in Figure 4e. The different grain sizes and the morphologies of regions are related to the thermal gradient and solidification rate affected by the energy source, the material properties and heat accumulation [31]. Equiaxed grains formed in the FZ far from the melting boundaries due to the decrease in the thermal gradient-to-solidification ratio, in agreement with the literature [32,33,34]. Austenite and ferrite are the predominant phases in the welded joints. The matrix phase is γ austenite, and the lathy phase and intercellular phase are δ ferrite. Wu et al. [35] reported that the element Cr and the element Mo are ferrite stabilizers, and the element Ni is an austenite stabilizer. Therefore, line-scanning energy spectrum analysis was applied to the HAZ, as shown in Figure 4f–i, to analyze elemental segregation at the boundary of the matrix phase. The results show that there are no rich elements or poor elements at the austenite phase boundary.
The SEM images and EDS analysis of weldments fabricated by laser welding are shown in Figure 5. Compared with the microstructures of weldments created by GTAW, much larger equiaxed grain regions are located in the FZ of laser welding in Figure 5a. In the HAZ of laser welding in Figure 5c, the equiaxed grain structure with a similar grain size was observed. It was noted that the ferrite phase was seldom seen at the boundary of the austenite phase, indicating few elemental segregations. In addition, the EDS analysis of the HAZ created by laser welding with a homogeneous elemental distribution also showed a few element segregations in the HAZ.

3.3. Mechanical Properties

Figure 6 presents the comparison of microhardness distributions in different regions of GTAW and laser welding. The microhardness profiles of different regions along the FZ, HAZ and base metal show that the microhardness of the HAZ was higher than the base metal. As a result, the joints welded by GTAW and laser welding can reduce soft regions and avoid the phenomenon of stress concentration in weldments.
The average yield strength and ultimate tensile strength of the specimens by GTAW are 298 MPa and 523 MPa, respectively. The average yield strength and ultimate tensile strength of the specimens by laser welding are 312 MPa and 557 MPa, respectively. Comparing the tensile properties of the welded specimens by different welding methods, laser welding showed a better yield strength and ultimate strength than GTAW. Meanwhile, the elongation of the welded specimens by laser welding was 36.7%, which is much higher than that by GTAW (elongation: 17.6%). Moreover, the joints created by GTAW have fluctuant tensile properties, showing a great difference in the engineering stress–strain curves of Figure 7a, compared to the joints fabricated by laser welding. Due to the special structures of hydro plant bellows, the dissimilar welding of multi-layer 316L stainless steel sheets and one-layer B610CF high-strength steel plates has rarely been reported. The mechanical properties of the B610CF high-strength steel base material include a yield strength of 500 MPa, an ultimate tensile strength of 620 MPa, and an elongation of 28%. The yield strength, ultimate tensile strength, and elongation of the 316L stainless steel base material are 250 MPa, 570 MPa and 45%, respectively. The tensile performance slightly improved to 98% of the 316L base metal and the elongation significantly increased from 39% to 82% of the 316L base metal when using laser welding instead of GTAW. Considering the function of hydro plant bellows to accommodate the movement and vibration of hydro plant parts, it is necessary to ensure the sufficient elongation of the joints.
Fracture features were studied to further understand the significant differences in the elongation of the welded specimens between GTAW and laser welding, as seen in Figure 8. The fracturing of the three tensile specimens by laser welding occurred in the 316L stainless-steel base metal, indicating the good tensile properties of the samples welded by laser. The results of GTAW show that only one fracture was located in the 316L stainless-steel base metal, and the others fractured at the interface between the HAZ and the FZ, as shown in Figure 8c. Insufficient fusion was detected in the bottom region of the fracture location, which was in agreement with the optical observation in Figure 3a. Figure 8d–f show the fractured surface topography in the upper region of the fracture location. The dimple features confirmed the occurrence of a ductile fracture event. A pore with a diameter of 570 μm can also be seen in Figure 8e. In conclusion, the joints created by GTAW, exhibiting discontinuous and insufficient fusion and more ferrite precipitation at the HAZ, caused poor and fluctuant tensile properties. The joints fabricated by laser welding, exhibiting a full weld without visible defects and homogeneous elemental distribution in the HAZ, exhibited good tensile properties.

4. Conclusions

In this study, multi-layer 316L stainless steel sheets were welded to a B610CF high-strength steel plate by different welding methods. A comparative study between GTAW and laser welding on the weld quality, microstructure and tensile properties was conducted. The following conclusions were drawn.
(1)
The width of the FZ and HAZ using GTAW was much wider than that obtained using laser welding. Discontinuous insufficient fusion was detected in the GTAW joints, and the laser-welded joints presented full welds without visible defects.
(2)
Compared with GTAW, there are much bigger equiaxed grain regions located in the FZs of the laser-welded samples. Fewer ferrites penetrated into the boundary of the austenite phase and the homogeneous elemental distribution in the HAZ, indicating few elemental segregations.
(3)
Elongations of the samples welded by GTAW and laser welding were 17.6% and 36.7%, respectively. The increase in the elongation in laser welding was due to the combined effect of full welds without visible defects and a homogeneous elemental distribution in the HAZs, which resulted in fractures occurring in the 316L stainless-steel base material.
(4)
The results show that laser welding is more suitable than GTAW for welding multi-layer 316L stainless-steel sheets with B610CF high-strength steel plates for the fabrication and repair of hydro plant bellows.
This work presents a comparison between GTAW and laser welding by analyzing the weld quality, microstructure and mechanical properties of joints. The laser welding technique shows great potential for welding dissimilar multi-layer 316L stainless-steel sheets with B610CF high-strength steel plates in hydro plant bellows. The high heat accumulation of the multi-layer structure often results in a negative influence on the mechanical properties of joints. Further investigation is needed for the thermo-mechanical analysis of the laser welding of multi-layer structures for the fabrication and repair of hydro plant bellows.

Author Contributions

L.C.: validation, investigation, formal analysis, writing—original draft; K.L.: conceptualization, funding acquisition, supervision; Z.L.: validation, investigation, project administration; G.T.: validation, investigation; Y.Z.: resources, investigation; H.H.: validation, investigation; Z.Y.: validation, investigation; H.W.: validation, investigation; H.Z.: validation, data curation, writing—review and editing; G.B.: conceptualization, methodology, funding acquisition, writing—review and editing. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

Funding

This study is funded by China Yangtze Power Company Limited, Contract No. Z232302078.

Institutional Review Board Statement

Not applicable.

Informed Consent Statement

Not applicable.

Data Availability Statement

The raw data supporting the conclusions of this article will be made available by the authors on request.

Conflicts of Interest

Authors Zhengjun Liu, Guoying Tu, Yi Zhang, Han Hu and Huikang Wang were employed by the company China Yangtze Power Co., Ltd. The remaining authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

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Applsci 15 03387 g001
Figure 1. The schematic diagrams of welding processes and analysis: (a) GTAW, (b) laser welding, (c) V-groove welds, (d) the size of the samples for tensile tests.
Figure 1. The schematic diagrams of welding processes and analysis: (a) GTAW, (b) laser welding, (c) V-groove welds, (d) the size of the samples for tensile tests.
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Figure 2. The quality of the welded joints fabricated by GTAW and laser welding: (a) the optical observation of GTAW, (b) the optical observation of laser welding, (c) the ultrasonic inspection of the GTA-welded sample, (d) the ultrasonic inspection of the laser-welded sample.
Figure 2. The quality of the welded joints fabricated by GTAW and laser welding: (a) the optical observation of GTAW, (b) the optical observation of laser welding, (c) the ultrasonic inspection of the GTA-welded sample, (d) the ultrasonic inspection of the laser-welded sample.
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Figure 3. Cross-section morphologies of weld joints: (a) GTAW, (b) laser welding.
Figure 3. Cross-section morphologies of weld joints: (a) GTAW, (b) laser welding.
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Figure 4. The microstructure of the joints fabricated by GTAW: (a) base metal, (b,c) molten pool boundary between FZ and HAZ, (d,e) molten boundary between adjacent layers of FZ, and (f–i) the EDS analysis of the FZ.
Figure 4. The microstructure of the joints fabricated by GTAW: (a) base metal, (b,c) molten pool boundary between FZ and HAZ, (d,e) molten boundary between adjacent layers of FZ, and (f–i) the EDS analysis of the FZ.
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Figure 5. Microstructure of weld joints fabricated by laser welding: (a,b) FZ, (c,d) molten pool boundary between FZ and HAZ, and (e–g) EDS analysis of HAZ.
Figure 5. Microstructure of weld joints fabricated by laser welding: (a,b) FZ, (c,d) molten pool boundary between FZ and HAZ, and (e–g) EDS analysis of HAZ.
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Figure 6. Microhardness distributions of welded joints: (a) upper region of GTAW, (b) upper region of laser welding, (c) bottom region of GTAW, and (d) bottom region of laser welding.
Figure 6. Microhardness distributions of welded joints: (a) upper region of GTAW, (b) upper region of laser welding, (c) bottom region of GTAW, and (d) bottom region of laser welding.
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Figure 7. The tensile properties of the welded specimens: (a) the engineering stress–strain curves and (b) the yield strength, ultimate strength and elongation.
Figure 7. The tensile properties of the welded specimens: (a) the engineering stress–strain curves and (b) the yield strength, ultimate strength and elongation.
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Figure 8. The fracture of welded samples: (a) GTAW, (b) laser welding, (c–f) the fracture features of specimens fractured at the interface between the FZ and HAZ of 316L multi-layer bellows.
Figure 8. The fracture of welded samples: (a) GTAW, (b) laser welding, (c–f) the fracture features of specimens fractured at the interface between the FZ and HAZ of 316L multi-layer bellows.
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Table 1. The chemical composition of 316L stainless steel and B610CF high-strength steel (wt.%).
Table 1. The chemical composition of 316L stainless steel and B610CF high-strength steel (wt.%).
MaterialCMnPSSiCrNiMoFe
316L<0.03<2<0.045<0.03<116–1810–142–3Balance
B610CF0.091.57--0.310.21--Balance
Table 2. The detailed parameters employed in GTAW and laser welding.
Table 2. The detailed parameters employed in GTAW and laser welding.
MethodsVoltage (V)Current (A)Laser Power (W)Diameter of Feeding Wire (mm)Welding Speed (mm/s)Wire Feeding Speed (mm/s)
GTAW13~1680~120-2.515~203~5
Laser welding--500~8501.215~2011~14
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Cao, L.; Lv, K.; Liu, Z.; Tu, G.; Zhang, Y.; Hu, H.; Yang, Z.; Wang, H.; Zhang, H.; Bi, G. A Comparative Study of Arc Welding and Laser Welding for the Fabrication and Repair of Multi-Layer Hydro Plant Bellows. Appl. Sci. 2025, 15, 3387. https://doi.org/10.3390/app15063387

AMA Style

Cao L, Lv K, Liu Z, Tu G, Zhang Y, Hu H, Yang Z, Wang H, Zhang H, Bi G. A Comparative Study of Arc Welding and Laser Welding for the Fabrication and Repair of Multi-Layer Hydro Plant Bellows. Applied Sciences. 2025; 15(6):3387. https://doi.org/10.3390/app15063387

Chicago/Turabian Style

Cao, Lichao, Kaiming Lv, Zhengjun Liu, Guoying Tu, Yi Zhang, Han Hu, Zirui Yang, Huikang Wang, Hao Zhang, and Guijun Bi. 2025. "A Comparative Study of Arc Welding and Laser Welding for the Fabrication and Repair of Multi-Layer Hydro Plant Bellows" Applied Sciences 15, no. 6: 3387. https://doi.org/10.3390/app15063387

APA Style

Cao, L., Lv, K., Liu, Z., Tu, G., Zhang, Y., Hu, H., Yang, Z., Wang, H., Zhang, H., & Bi, G. (2025). A Comparative Study of Arc Welding and Laser Welding for the Fabrication and Repair of Multi-Layer Hydro Plant Bellows. Applied Sciences, 15(6), 3387. https://doi.org/10.3390/app15063387

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