Study on fundamental processes of laser welded metals observed with intense x-ray beams

With use of photon techniques including visible light, soft and hard x-rays, precise fundamental laser welding processes in the repair and maintenance of nuclear plant engineering were reviewed mechanistically. We make discussions centered on the usefulness of an intense soft x-ray beams for evaluations of spatial residual strain distribution and welded metal convection behavior including the surface morphology. Numerical results obtained with a general purpose three-dimensional code SPLICE for the simulation of the welding and solidifying phenomena. Then it is concluded that the x-ray beam would be useful as one of the powerful tools for understanding the mechanisms of various complex phenomena with higher accuracy and higher resolution.