TY - JOUR SP - 864 VL - 387 N1 - This version is the author accepted manuscript. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher?s terms and conditions. IS - 6736 SN - 0036-8075 UR - https://doi.org/10.1126/science.ado8554 A1 - Fan, Xianqiang A1 - Fleming, Tristan G A1 - Clark, Samuel J A1 - Fezzaa, Kamel A1 - Getley, Anna CM A1 - Marussi, Sebastian A1 - Wang, Hongze A1 - Leung, Chu Lun Alex A1 - Kao, Andrew A1 - Lee, Peter D JF - Science EP - 869 AV - public Y1 - 2025/02/21/ TI - Magnetic modulation of keyhole instability during laser welding and additive manufacturing PB - American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) ID - discovery10205876 N2 - Keyhole instability during laser welding and laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) can cause keyhole collapse and pore formation. Using high-speed x-ray imaging, we demonstrate that the flow vortex-induced protrusion on the rear keyhole wall is crucial in initiating keyhole instability. Applying a transverse magnetic field suppresses the keyhole instability by driving a secondary thermoelectric magnetohydrodynamics (TEMHD) flow that alters the net flow vortex. This minimizes protrusions and large-amplitude keyhole oscillations. The suppression effectiveness depends on the laser scanning direction relative to the magnetic field orientation because this controls the Seebeck effect-induced Lorentz force's direction. We show that at LPBF length scales, electromagnetic damping is weak, and for alloys with a large Seebeck coefficient, TEMHD becomes the dominant mechanism controlling flow behind the keyhole. ER -