Preserving Mechanical Properties in Fiber Laser Welded 1.6 GPa-Class Ultrahigh-Strength Steel Plates

Preserving Mechanical Properties in Fiber Laser Welded 1.6 GPa-Class Ultrahigh-Strength Steel Plates | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Preserving Mechanical Properties in Fiber Laser Welded 1.6 GPa-Class Ultrahigh-Strength Steel Plates Abdel-Monem El-Batahgy, Belal Tarad, Soliman Ali-Eldin, Waleed Abdalla This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8983459/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Revision Version 1 posted 13 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Motivated by the significant tensile-strength loss reported for gas metal arc (GMA) and friction stir (FS) welds of 1.6 GPa-class ultrahigh-strength steel, this study assesses whether autogenous fiber laser beam (LB) welding can better preserve base-metal performance. Compared with GMA and FS welding, fiber LB welding produced joints with tensile strength essentially matching the base metal while maintaining sufficient impact toughness. Laser power and travel speed were optimized to balance heat input, weld quality, and productivity. A defect-free, full-penetration joint with a markedly narrow fusion zone was achieved in 6.0 mm plates (base-metal UTS = 1635 MPa) using a laser power of 2.9 kW and a travel speed of 1.2 m/min. The reduced heat input limited heat-affected-zone over-tempering and promoted a more homogeneous martensitic microstructure, thereby reducing the mechanical-property mismatch between the weld metal (WM) and the heat-affected zone (HAZ). This maintains the welded joint mechanical properties at a level comparable to the base steel (BM). Physical sciences/Engineering Physical sciences/Materials science Ultrahigh strength steel Arc welding Friction stir welding Laser beam welding Microstructure Mechanical mismatching Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Revision Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Revision requested 18 May, 2026 Reviews received at journal 11 May, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 05 May, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 05 May, 2026 Reviews received at journal 17 Apr, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 24 Mar, 2026 Reviews received at journal 20 Mar, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 20 Mar, 2026 Reviewers invited by journal 20 Mar, 2026 Editor assigned by journal 17 Mar, 2026 Editor invited by journal 17 Mar, 2026 Submission checks completed at journal 17 Mar, 2026 First submitted to journal 16 Mar, 2026 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-8983459","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":609903665,"identity":"7dfb85e9-f9bf-4169-818c-14f85d01d4cd","order_by":0,"name":"Abdel-Monem El-Batahgy","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAABCklEQVRIiWNgGAWjYFAC5jYQmQBkHADxeEC8A/i1MLaBNAC1sCWQrIXHAKSFsLP42xvbHvz8YZcnH5Hz8dPNPdYyDPyHHx5gqKjFqUXizMF2w56E5GLDG7mbpXOepfMwSKQZHGA4cxy3NTcS2yR4EpgTN87I3cacc+AwUAsPwwHGtmM4dcjff9gm+SehHqgl5xlEC/8ZoJZ/uLUY3GBsk+ZJOJw4XyKHDaKFIQeopaEGpxbDM4ntxjJpxxM38Dwzls45kM7DBvJLwrEDOLXIHT987OEbm+rE+e3JDz/nHLC25+c//PjDh5o63N6Hu/BCAoTBBiISGA4T1iLfj+oUImwZBaNgFIyCkQIAretbbvUJo5kAAAAASUVORK5CYII=","orcid":"","institution":"Central Metallurgical Research and Development Institute","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Abdel-Monem","middleName":"","lastName":"El-Batahgy","suffix":""},{"id":609903666,"identity":"7772fd25-e6ac-4134-8623-b5958bfcafb5","order_by":1,"name":"Belal Tarad","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Zagazig University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Belal","middleName":"","lastName":"Tarad","suffix":""},{"id":609903667,"identity":"f454f552-9685-4b40-95be-0bfdc2e033e1","order_by":2,"name":"Soliman Ali-Eldin","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Zagazig University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Soliman","middleName":"","lastName":"Ali-Eldin","suffix":""},{"id":609903668,"identity":"ee8f21ee-e8e1-4740-a4a0-f15dfadafd7b","order_by":3,"name":"Waleed Abdalla","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Horus University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Waleed","middleName":"","lastName":"Abdalla","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2026-02-27 04:53:10","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8983459/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8983459/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":105565075,"identity":"19b1e80a-53ed-4554-b859-f33bd136183a","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-03-27 12:51:47","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":1932754,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"1ScientificReportsRevisedManuscrptMarch172026.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8983459/v1_covered_481dbee0-6752-431c-9fdd-498270133757.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Preserving Mechanical Properties in Fiber Laser Welded 1.6 GPa-Class Ultrahigh-Strength Steel Plates","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"scientific-reports","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"scirep","sideBox":"Learn more about [Scientific Reports](http://www.nature.com/srep/)","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"","title":"Scientific Reports","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"stoa","reportingPortfolio":"Scientific Reports","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Ultrahigh strength steel, Arc welding, Friction stir welding, Laser beam welding, Microstructure, Mechanical mismatching","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8983459/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8983459/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eMotivated by the significant tensile-strength loss reported for gas metal arc (GMA) and friction stir (FS) welds of 1.6 GPa-class ultrahigh-strength steel, this study assesses whether autogenous fiber laser beam (LB) welding can better preserve base-metal performance. 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