Structure and Mechanical Properties of the NiTi Wire Joined by Laser Welding

Joining wires made of NiTi alloys with shape memory effect and pseudoelasticity causes many technical and structural problems. They result from unwanted phase interactions that occur in high temperatures and negatively affect the characteristics of these materials. Such obstacles are challenging in terms of welding. Hence, an attempt was made to join NiTi wires via an economical and reliable basic laser welding technique which does not require complicated equipment and gas protection. The parameters such as spot diameter and pulse time were constant and only the laser power, calculated as a percentage of the total power, was optimized. The wires were parallelly connected with overlapping seam welds 10 mm long. The welds were examined regarding their microstructure, chemical and phase composition, reversible martensitic transformation, microhardness, and pseudoelasticity. The obtained results showed that the joint was completed at the 12-14% power. The weld revealed good quality with no voids or pores. As the laser power increased, the microhardness rose from 282 (for 4%) to 321 (for 14%). The joint withstood the stress-inducing reversible martensitic transformation. As the transformation was repeated cyclically, the stress value decreased from 587 MPa (initial wire) to 507 MPa (for the 14% power welded wire).