Weldability of helium-containing stainless steels using a YAG laser

Bead-on-plate welding experiments using a 400 W YAG laser were conducted on SUS304 stainless steels implanted with helium ions of 0.5, 5 and 50 appm uniformly to a depth of 0.25 mm. High heat input welding at 20 kJ/cm caused surface grain boundary cracking in the heat-affected zone at 50 appm He. Cross-sectional observations after etching in oxalic acid solution revealed that bubble growth at grain boundaries in the heat-affected zone was enhanced at higher heat input and at higher helium concentrations. Bubble growth was negligible for the laser welding condition of 1 kJ/cm even at 50 appm He. The results suggest that YAG laser welding is a promising welding technique for stainless steels containing high amounts of helium.