J. T. Norris, R. A. Roach, P. W. Fuerschbach, J. E. Bernal, Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM

Summary: Gap bridging of thin plate pulsed Nd:YAG lap welds is optimized by focused welding at low peak powers without gas shielding. High-speed images reveal effects of varying welding parameters and weld pool and laser beam interactions. Development and verification of finite element models for weld pool physics is being conducted.