Académique Documents
Professionnel Documents
Culture Documents
DOI 10.1007/s00170-007-1325-0
ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Received: 1 June 2007 / Accepted: 19 November 2007 / Published online: 18 December 2007
# Springer-Verlag London Limited 2007
1 Introduction
Aluminium alloys find wide applications in aerospace,
automobile industries, railway vehicles, bridges, offshore
structure topsides and high speed ships due to its light
weight and higher strength to weight ratio. In all cases,
welding is the primary joining method which has always
represented a great challenge for designers and technologists. As a matter of fact, lots of difficulties are associated
with this kind of joint process, mainly related to the
presence of a tenacious oxide layer, high thermal conductivity, high coefficient of thermal expansion, solidification
shrinkage and, above all, high solubility of hydrogen, and
other gases, in the molten state [1]. Further problems occur
when attention is focused on heat-treatable alloys, since
heat, provided by the welding process, is responsible for the
decay of mechanical properties, due to phase transformations and softening [2]. AA6061 aluminium alloy (Al- Mg-Si
alloys) is the most widely used medium strength aluminium
alloy, and has gathered wide acceptance in the fabrication of
light weight structures [3]. The preferred welding processes
for these alloys are frequently gas tungsten arc welding
(GTAW) and gas metal arc welding (GMAW) due to their
comparatively easier applicability and better economy [4].
Welding of these alloys, however, still remains a challenge.
Apart from softening in the weld fusion zone and heat-
2 Experimental work
The rolled plates of AA6061 aluminium alloy were
machined to the required dimensions (300 mm150 mm).
Single V butt joint configuration, as shown in Fig. 1a, was
prepared to fabricate GTA and GMA welded joints. The
initial joint configuration was obtained by securing the
plates in position using tack welding for GTA and GMA
welds. The direction of welding was normal to the rolling
direction. All necessary care was taken to avoid joint
distortion, and the joints were made with suitable clamps.
287
288
GMAW
GTAW
FSW
Welding machine
Tungsten electrode diameter (mm)
Filler rod/wire diameter (mm)
Voltage (volts)
Current (amps)
Welding speed (mm/min)
Heat input (kJ/mm)
Shielding gas
Gas flow rate (lit/min)
Tool rotational speed (rpm)
Axial force (kN)
Tool pin profile
Tool shoulder diameter (mm)
Pin diameter (mm)
Pin length (mm)
Lincoln, USA
1.6
20
190
110
2.021
Argon
16
Lincoln, USA
3
3.0
20
175
130
1.212
Argon
16
75
0.84
1200
7
Threaded
18
6
5.5
3 Results
3.1 Tensile properties
The transverse tensile properties such as yield strength,
tensile strength, percentage of elongation, notch tensile
strength, and notch strength ratio of AA6061 aluminium
alloy joints were evaluated. In each condition, three
specimens were tested, and the average of the three results
is presented in Table 4. The yield strength and tensile
strength of unwelded parent metal are 302 MPa and
335 MPa, respectively. However, the yield strength and tensile strength of GMAW joints are 141 MPa and 163 MPa,
respectively. This indicates that there is a 51% reduction in
strength values due to GMA welding. Similarly, the yield
strength and tensile strength of GTAW joints are 188 MPa
and 211 MPa, respectively which are 37% lower compared
to parent metal. However, the yield strength and tensile
strength of FSW joints are 224 MPa and 248 MPa,
respectively. Of the three types of welded joints, the joints
fabricated by FSW process exhibited higher strength values,
and the enhancement in strength value is approximately 34%
Table 2 Chemical composition (wt %) of base metal and all weld metals
Type of Material
Mg
Si
Fe
Cu
Cr
Mn
Zn
Ti
Al
0.9
0.05
0.04
0.8
0.62
5.0
5.0
0.60
0.33
0.05
0.06
0.35
0.28
0.12
0.10
0.26
0.17
0.19
0.06
0.22
0.20
0.08
0.02
0.01
0.02
0.01
Bal
Bal
Bal
Bal
289
Elongation (%)
Reduction in cross
sectional area (%)
Hardness (VHN)
302
160
150
245
334
230
220
295
18
8
6
14
12.24
5.45
4.5
10.2
105
65
60
85
tively. However, the elongation and reduction in the crosssectional area of GMAW joints are 8.4% and 5.8%,
respectively. This suggests that there is a 53% reduction
in ductility due to GMA welding. Similarly, the elongation
Welding direction
300
Rolling direction
100
100
12.5
50
100
50
200
290
Yield
strength
(MPa)
Ultimate tensile
strength (MPa)
Elongation
(%)
Reduction
in c.s.a (%)
Notch tensile
strength (MPa)
Notch strength
ratio (NSR)
Joint
Efficiency
(%)
Weld region
hardness
(VHN)
GMAW
GTAW
FSW
141
188
224
163
211
248
8.4
11.8
14.2
5.80
8.26
9.56
175
228
279
1.073
1.091
1.125
48.80
62.57
74.25
58
70
85
291
50 m
50 m
a GMAW
b GTAW
50 m
50 m
c FSW
d Base metal
Fig. 4 Macrostructure of
welded joints
a GMAW
b GTAW
c FSW
292
4 Discussion
Transverse tensile properties of the welded joints presented
in Table 4 indicate that the FSW joints are exhibiting
superior tensile properties compared to GMAW and GTAW
joints. During tensile test, all the specimens invariably
failed in the weld region (Fig. 4). This indicates that the
weld region is comparatively weaker than other regions and
hence the joint properties are controlled by weld region
chemical composition and microstructure.
The higher strength of the base metal is mainly attributed
to the presence of alloying elements such as silicon and
magnesium and these two elements combine and undergo
precipitation reaction and form a strengthening precipitate
of Mg2Si. Fine and uniform distribution of these precipitates throughout the aluminium matrix provides higher
strength and hardness to these alloys [17]. When these
alloys are welded using non-heat treatable filler metals
(Al-5%Si) to avoid solidification cracking problem, the
weld region is composed of fewer Mg2Si precipitates when
compared to base metal [18]. In fusion welding, the dilution
of base metal in weld metal is a common phenomenon.
Even though, a large amount of silicon is available
(available in base metal and filler metal) for precipitation
reaction, the available magnesium (available in base metal
293
294
295
Defence, New Delhi for the financial support to carryout this
investigation through sponsored project No.DARO/08/1061356/M/I.
Appendix-1
Heat input calculations of processes used
Gas metal arc welding
Heat Input
2:021 kJ=mm
Gas tungsten arc welding
Heat Input
V I60
S1000
175200:7560
1301000
1:212 kJ =mm
Where V - Voltage in volts, I - Current in Amps, - Arc
efficiency is assumed as 0.75 for GMAW and GTAW [34]
Friction stir welding
The heat input for friction stir welding process can be
calculated as [35]
q
5 Conclusions
V I60
S1000
190200:7560
1101000
2
3S
p RS
2
31:25
0:84 KJ =mm
Where,
- Co-efficient of friction , P - Normal force in kN, Rotational speed in rev/sec
Rs - Shoulder radius in m, S - Welding speed in mm/s.
References
1. Matrukanitz RP (1990) Selection and weldability of heat-treatable
aluminum alloys. ASM Handbook-Welding, Brazing and Soldering 6:528536
2. Senthil Kumar T, Balasubramanian V, Sanavullah MY (2007)
Influences of pulsed current tungsten inert gas welding parameters
on tensile properties of AA6061 aluminium alloy. Mater Des 28
(7):20802092
3. Balasubramanian V, Ravisankar V, Madhusudhan Reddy G (2007)
Effect of pulsed current welding on mechanical properties of high
strength aluminium alloy. Int J Adv Manuf Technol (in press)
4. Madhusudhan Reddy G, Gokhale AA, Prasad Rao K (1998)
Optimization of pulse frequency in pulsed current gas tungsten arc
welding of aluminium lithium. J Mater Sci Technol 14:6166
5. Mohandoss T, Madhusudhan Reddy G (1996) Effect of frequency
of pulsing in gas tungsten are welding on the microstructure and
mechanical properties of titanium alloy welds. J Mater Sci Lett
15:626628
6. Knipstrom KE, Pekkari B (1997) Friction stir welding process
goes commercial. Weld J 76:5557
296
7. Mahoney MW, Rhodes CG, Flintoff JG, Spurling RA, Bingel WH
(1998) Properties of friction stir welded 7075-T651 aluminum.
Metallurgical Mater Trans A 29:19551964
8. Campbell G, Stotler T (1999) Friction stir welding of armor grade
aluminum plate. Weld J 78:4547
9. Liu HJ, Fujii H, Maeda M, Nogi (2003) Tensile properties and
fracture locations of friction stir welded joints of 2024-T351
aluminium alloy. J Mater Process Technol 36:402408
10. Maggiolino S, Schmid C (2007) Corrosion resistance in FSW and
in MIG welding techniques of AA6XXX. J Mater Process
Technol (in press)
11. Moreira PMGP, de Figueiredo MAV, de Castro PMST (2007)
Fatigue behaviour of FSW and MIG weldments for two
aluminium alloys. Theor Appl Fract Mech 48:169177
12. Squillace A, De Fenzo A, Giorleo G, Bellucci F (2004) A
comparison between FSW and TIG welding techniques: modifications of microstructure and pitting corrosion resistance in AA
2024-T3 butt joints. J Mater Process Technol 152:97105
13. Munoz C, Ruckert G, Huneau B, Sauvage X, Marya S (2004)
Comparison of TIG welded and friction stir welded Al-4.5 Mg0.26 Sc alloy. J Mater Process Technol 152:97105
14. Elangovan K, Balasubramanian V, Valliappan M (2007) Influences of tool pin profile and axial force on the formation of friction
stir processing zone in AA6061 aluminium alloy. Int J Adv Manuf
Technol (in press). DOI 10.1007/s00170-007-1100-2
15. Elangovan K, Balasubramanian V (2008) Influences of tool pin
profile and tool shoulder diameter on the formation of friction stir
processing zone in AA6061 aluminium alloy. Mater Des 29
(2):362373
16. Lin DC, Wang TS, Srivatsan TS (2003) A mechanism for the
formation of equiaxed grains in welds of aluminum-lithium alloy
2090. Mater Sci Eng A 335:304309
17. Mondolfo LF (1997) Aluminium alloys - structure and properties.
Butterworths, London
18. Shinoda T, Ueno Y, Masumoto I (1990) Effect of pulsed welding
current on solidification cracking in austenitic stainless steel
welds. Trans Jpn Weld Soc 21:1823
19. Madhusudhan Reddy G, Gokhale AA, Prasad Rao K (1997) Weld
microstructural refinement in a 1441 grade Al-Li alloy. J Mater
Sci 32:41174126
20. Kwon YJ, Shigematsu I, Saito N (2003) Mechanical properties of
fine-grained aluminium alloy produced stir process. Scr Mater
9:785789