A computational fluid dynamics analysis of transport enforced by Marangoni effect during laser welding

The influence of sulfur content on the welding process has been described in several papers. Sulfur as one of the surface active elements affects the surface tension of the liquid steel. In previous models of welding, initial sulfur content was the same in both welded parts. The article concerns the case where the welded materials differ in sulfur. Mutual mixing of welded materials in welding pool leads to periodic changes of driving force direction. The model permits the calculation of sulfur concentration in weld pool and weld size depending on the initial composition, laser power and welding velocity.