Journal of Materials Processing Technology 155–156 (2004) 1408–1414

Effects of temperature and shielding gas mixture on fatigue

life of 5083 aluminum alloy
J.M. Kuk a , K.C. Jang a , D.G. Lee a,∗ , I.S. Kim b
a Technology Support Center for Optical Industry, Korea Institute of Industrial Technology, Gwangju City, Republic of Korea
b Department of Mechanical Engineering, Mokpo National University, Mokpo City, Republic of Korea

Abstract

A fatigue crack develops as a result of stress concentration and extends with each load cycle until failure occurs, or until the cyclic loads
are transferred to redundant members. The fatigue performance of a member is more dependent on the localized state of stress than the
static strength of the base metal or the weld metal.
This is a study of fatigue strength of Al5083-O aluminum alloy to investigate influence of fatigue life on welding zone according to the
mixing shield gas ratio and the test temperature. The GMAW was carried out for weld specimens with various mixing shield gas ratios
(Ar100% + He0%, Ar67% + He33%, Ar50% + He50%, and Ar33% + He67%). The test temperatures for the fatigue test were +25 ◦ C
(+77 ◦ C), −30 ◦ C (−22 ◦ C), −85 ◦ C (−121 ◦ C), and −196 ◦ C (−321 ◦ C). The welding zone was divided into four subzones for analysis;
weld metal, fusion line, HAZ, and base metal according to the notch position. Regarding the influence on the bead shape of the mixing
shield gas ratio, the bead width was greatest in Ar100% + He0% mixture. But the bead depth and area were greatest in Ar33% + He67%
mixture. The dilution was also best in the mixing shield gas ratio. In the influence of mixing gas ratio, fatigue life of weld metal specimens
decreased with higher argon gas ratio, but fusion line and HAZ specimens were not influenced greatly. Also, the fatigue life increased at
lower temperatures, particularly at −196 ◦ C.
© 2004 Published by Elsevier B.V.

Keywords: GMAW; Mixing shield gas ratio; Dilution; Fatigue life

1. Introduction repeatedly contraction and expansion according to variation

The fatigue strength is one of the most important service
characteristics of metallic parts and functional assemblies of
various machines: firstly, stationary and aviation ones, power
missile plants and engines. It is well known that porosity has
a round edge while a crack is sharp, making it easy to propa-
gate. Crack propagation is different depending on crack size
and location. Fatigue in welded structures has been studied
extensively, especially with recent developments in fracture
mechanics. Research on fatigue crack propagation is also
extensive [1–4].
Among the aluminum alloys, Al5083-O using in many
fields such as liquefied natural gas (LNG) carrying and
storage tanks, ships, vehicles, aircrafts, and high pressure
vessel, because it has high strength, good welding proper-
ties, wear resistance, and so on [5]. But the tank receives
∗ Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: jmkuk@kitech.re.kr (J.M. Kuk), kcjang@kitech.re.kr
(K.C. Jang), opentest@kitech.re.kr, opentest@hanmail.net (D.G. Lee),
ilsookim@mokpo.ac.kr (I.S. Kim).
of temperature and pressure by carrying in and out LNG. In
this case, the low temperature fatigue characteristics as well
as static strength should be considered. Also, cracking and
porosity are major concerns in welding aluminum alloys. To
reduce the defects and to have good weldability, argon and
helium as shield gases are the most common purging gases
which play an important role in reduction of generation of
defects and protection of weld pool. There is an ever in-
creasing range of shielding gases available for arc welding.
The gases vary from the pure gases to complex quaternary
mixtures based on argon, helium, oxygen, and carbondiox-
ide. The shielding gas for arc welding must be easily ionized
to ensure that the arc can be sustained at a reasonably low
voltage. Additional requirements of the shielding gas are a
stable arc root mechanism, efficient shielding of the weld
pool and adjacent area, and good weld penetration with a
smooth weld bead profile. But they have very different char-
acters. Helium is one of the lightest gases, approximately
10 times lighter than argon. The higher ionization poten-
tial of helium, approximately 25 eV compared to 16 eV for
argon, produces a significantly higher arc voltage. The arc

0924-0136/$ – see front matter © 2004 Published by Elsevier B.V.

doi:10.1016/j.jmatprotec.2004.04.117
 J.M. Kuk et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 155–156 (2004) 1408–1414 1409

Table 1 Table 3
Chemical compositions (wt.%) Conditions of shielding gas ratio and heat input
Materials Si Fe Cu Mn Mg Cr Zn Ti Conditions gas Heat Speed Voltage Current
ratios input (cm/min) (V) (A)
Al5083-O 0.40 0.40 0.10 0.70 4.45 0.15 0.25 0.14
Al5183-WY 0.10 0.27 0.01 0.58 4.55 0.11 0.06 0.11 Ar100% + He0% L 50 21 220
M 40
H 30
formed in helium is considerably hotter than with an argon Ar67% + He33% L 50 23
based gas. It can often promote higher welding speeds and M 40
H 30
improve the weld bead penetration profile. But disadvan-
tages of using pure helium are: difficulty in initiating the Ar50% + He50% L 50 26
arc and the poor tolerance to cross-draughts [6,7], and the M 40
H 30
high price of helium which is significantly higher than that
of argon also. For these reasons, argon/helium gas mixtures Ar33% + He67% L 50 29
M 40
are more commonly used than pure gas.
H 30
In order to get optimal gas mixtures, to cut down cost as
much as possible, and in particular to achieve suitable weld- L: low heat input; M: middle heat input; H: high heat input.
ing properties with Al5083-O alloy for GMAW, bead profile
was examined according to the argon/helium gas mixtures The welds were made on an inverter pulse type MIG/MAG
and heat inputs. Also, the low temperature fatigue test was welder (HITACH 350 CAP2), having a 350 A current ca-
carried out with the base metal and GMAW specimens. pacity. During welding, the aluminum plates were placed
horizontally on a back plate and preheated to 100–120 ◦ C
(212–248 ◦ C) by the end taps during the welding.
2. Experiment For comparison, four kinds of argon/helium mixtures,
Ar100% + He0%, Ar67% + He33%, Ar50% + He50%, and
2.1. Materials and GMAW Ar33% + He67%, and three kinds of heat inputs, low, mid-
dle, and high, were applied which are given in Table 3. The
The base metal used for this investigation was 12 mm monatomic gases (99.995% pure) were already mixed to as
(0.47 in.) thick. The specified chemical compositions and mentioned ratios to reduce irregular mixing error.
mechanical properties of the Al5083 non-heat-treatable al-
loy and welding wire (Al5183-WY, Ø1.2 mm) are shown 2.2. Specimen and test method
in Tables 1 and 2. Welding plates 12 mm (0.47 in.) thick,
240 mm (9.5 in.) in width and 600 mm (23.6 in.) in length, Bead-on-plate welds were produced using 400 mm ×
were employed. Fig. 1 illustrates the configuration of the 150 mm (15.7 in. × 5.9 in.) plate for the inspection of bead
proposed GMAW. profile like deposit area, bead width, height and penetra-
GMAW was conducted. The polarity and flow rate of the tion depth. Both surfaces of the pieces were sand blasted
shielding gas were DCRP and 20–25 L/min, respectively. and polished just before welding using a SUS brush, a
grinder and alumina powders of 0.3 ◦ C diameter to re-
Table 2 move dirt and oxides. Each weld was cross-sectioned at
Mechanical properties mid-length and then polished with the help of alumina pow-
Materials Yield Tensile Elongation Young’s ders. And the specimens were etched in Keller’s reagent
strength strength (%) modulus [methanol (25 ml) + hydrochloric acid (25 ml) + nitric
(MPa) (MPa) (MPa) acid (25 ml) + hydrofluoric acid (3 ml)] for about 30 s to
Al5083-O 19.0 34.2 14 7.0 × 103 reveal the bead profile. The bead profile was measured
Al5183-WY 18.6 32.7 14 7.0 × 103 from cross-sections with a planimeter (KP-90) and a digital
micrometer.
On the other hand, the working procedure for fatigue spec-
imens is as follows: cutting from welded plate was based
upon the Rules for Classification Steel Ships [8] to enhance
accuracy of the test having enough working margin. Top
and bottom of the pieces were milled each 3 mm and then
a line was marked on the middle of weld pool, fusion line,
and HAZ (2 mm away from fusion line toward base metal)
using a sharp marker. The shape of CT specimens (long
transverse direction) were worked by a wire cutting machine
Fig. 1. Geometry of welding plate preparations. (0.2 mm diameter wire) according to the ASTM E647-83 [9]
1410 J.M. Kuk et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 155–156 (2004) 1408–1414

Fig. 2. Dimensions of the fatigue test specimen (mm in units).

and pre-notched 0.3 mm length by a small milling machine

with a diamond wheel cutter (0.15 mm thickness, 150 mm
diameter) following the marked line exactly after etching in
Keller’s reagent. Fatigue test specimens from welded plate
were made and the fatigue cracks were vertically grown
against rolling direction in order to clarify fatigue properties.
The equipment includes axial tension fatigue tester with a
20 t capacity. The fatigue tests were conducted under com-
puter control using a software package supplied by SHI-
MADZU, Japan. The load maintained constant. The crack
length was measured continuously during the tests using a
notch mouth clip gauge at room temperature. The sine wave
form was used at a frequency of 20 Hz and with a stress ratio
of 0.1 under various temperatures. Fig. 2 shows the geome-
try and dimensions of fatigue test specimen. The specimens
were divided into weld metal, fusion line, HAZ, and base
metal specimen according to the notch position.
The −30 and −85 fatigue test was performed with a
chamber (180 mm × 120 mm × 130 mm) made for myself.
While the liquid N2 gas was inserted into copper pipe inside
chamber having double insulated wall from one end to the
other end, the filled petroleum ether into the chamber cooled
about 3 g/min to the purposed temperatures. A thermocou-
ple, a temperature controller, and a solenoid valve were set
to inside or outside chamber to automatically control the
temperatures by supply liquid N2 . Also, to keep the uniform
temperature distribution, a small stirrer was continuously
worked during the fatigue test. After the intended temper-
atures were achieved, the specimens were fully maintained
for about 30 min for enough heat transmission. The fluctua-
tion of the testing temperature was within about 2.5 m. And
at −196 ◦ C test was performed with the same chamber also.
But the liquid N2 was directly put into the chamber with-
out the copper pipe and petroleum ether. Also another ther-
mocouple was placed at about 5 mm higher than the top of
specimen’s surface for the specimens to be fully sunk into
the liquid N2 by automatic supply. Therefore, it was thought
that the deviation of temperature was nearly close to zero.
Fig. 3 shows apparatus of the used chamber and devices for
low temperature fatigue tests.
Fig. 3. Schematic diagram of low temperature testing chamber apparatus.
3. Result and discussion
3.1. Bead profile
It is found that the bead profile is a function of the welding
current, voltage, travel speed, electrode diameter, electrode
polarity, electrode extension, and shielding gas [10]. The
relationship between arc welding parameters and weld bead
geometry is complex since a number of factors are involved.
Yet there is a need to have this information for procedure
development and for understanding the mechanism of weld
bead formation.
Therefore, in this investigation, an attempt was made to
study the influence of welding parameters, heat input and
shield gas mixture. The bead profile consists of bead width,
bead height, penetration depth, reinforcement area, penetra-
tion area, and dilution from the cross-sections of welds. A
scheme of the bead profile is illustrated in Fig. 4.
Photograph 1 is showing the cross-sections for measure-
ment of the bead profile, respectively. And Figs. 5 and 6
presented a relation between bead profile and the mixing
shield gas ratios and heat inputs. The higher heat input,
the more increase of bead width. It indicates that the bead
width increased in Ar67% + He33%, Ar50% + He50%,
Ar100% + He0%, and Ar33% + He67% in order. Fig. 5
J.M. Kuk et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 155–156 (2004) 1408–1414 1411

Fig. 4. Schematic diagram of bead profile.

Fig. 5. Relation between bead profile and heat input.

Fig. 6. Relation between dilution and heat input.

1412 J.M. Kuk et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 155–156 (2004) 1408–1414
Fig. 7. Distribution of the micro-Vickers hardness value and S–N diagram.
shows also that the higher heat input, the more increase of
height and penetration depth. It means that the depth so
much increased in Ar33% + He67% mixture. The Fig. 6(a)
shows the influence of the reinforcement and penetration ar-
eas upon the heat input and mixing shield gas ratio. It shows
that the higher heat input, the more increase of deposit area.
The area increased in Ar67% + He33%, Ar100% + He0%,
Ar50% + He50%, and Ar33% + He67% in order. In particu-
lar, the deposit area increased so much in Ar33% + He67%
mixture. Also, dilution was the best in the mixing shield gas
ratio. Among the weld features, the deposit area is one of the
most important ones because it not only affects the number
of passes required to fill a joint, but also constitutes a major
portion of the bead size and hence determines the dilution
[11,12]. Therefore in this investigation, it was investigated
that the best mixing shield gas ratio was Ar33% + He67%
mixture as given in Fig. 6(b).
3.2. Hardness and fatigue limit
Micro-Vickers hardness of the Ar100% + He0% mixture
specimen was measured every 0.5 mm from middle of weld
pool along the distance from the center of the weld pool.
Fig. 7(left) shows the distribution of the Micro-Vickers hard-
ness on the surface of the deposited metal measured every
0.5 mm from middle of weld pool in Ar100% + He0% mix-
ture specimen representatively. The hardness was about 30
higher on weld pool showing about HV 108 than on base
metal showing about HV 77, and the HAZ range was about
2.5–3.5 mm. Room temperature fatigue test was conducted
under the above mentioned conditions to obtain S–N curve,
from which fatigue strength was measured at 107 cycles. The
fatigue limit was about 80.3 MPa as shown in Fig. 7(right).
Fatigue stress for low temperature fatigue test was applied
160.7 MPa as much as 200% of the fatigue limit of base
metal measured at room temperature.
3.3. Effect of the test temperature and shielding gas ratio
Fig. 8(a) indicates the fatigue lives according to the test
temperature and mixing shield gas ratio. The fatigue life
of base metal was the lowest showing that the lower test
temperature, the higher fatigue life in case of base metal
and Ar33% + He67% mixture. On the contrary, the fa-
tigue life decreased as test temperature decreased up to
−85 ◦ C. But the fatigue life soared at −196 ◦ C. And the
greater helium gas ratio concentration increased the fatigue
life of weld metal except Ar33% + He67% mixture. But
fatigue life of the mixture was higher than those of the
other mixtures at −85 ◦ C. In fusion line specimens shown
in (b), the fatigue life of base metal was lowest also, but
the lower test temperature up to −85 ◦ C, the lower fatigue
life in case of Ar100% + He0%, Ar67% + He33%, and
Ar50% + He50% mixtures. But to the contrary, it increased
at Ar33% + He67% mixture according to decreasing tem-
perature. But the fatigue life increased high over four times
as much at −196 ◦ C as +25 ◦ C. Relation between helium
gas ratio concentration and fatigue life of weld metal and
fusion line specimens was the same. That is, the greater
helium gas ratio concentration increased the fatigue life of
fusion line except Ar33% + He67% mixture. But fatigue
life of the mixture was higher than those of the other mix-
tures at −85 ◦ C. In HAZ specimens shown in (c), the fa-
tigue life of base metal was lowest also, but the lower test
temperature below −85 ◦ C, the higher fatigue life for over
50% helium ratios (Ar50% + He50%, and Ar33% + He67%
mixtures). In the Ar100% + He0%, Ar67% + He33% mix-
ture, the fatigue life increased at −30 ◦ C and decreased at
−85 ◦ C which was more than that of prior test tempera-
ture. Also, it increased so much over four times as much
at −196 ◦ C as at +25 ◦ C like fusion line specimens. The
quantity of helium had no influence on fatigue nearly. It
synthesized the results between fatigue life and test temper-
ature that the fatigue life of all welded specimens regard-
less of notch position was higher than that of base metal
specimen. The temperature was in inverse proportion to fa-
tigue life in agreement with that the higher fatigue, the
lower temperature [13]. The more decrease of test temper-
ature, the more increase of fatigue life of base metal and
Ar33% + He67% mixture, the more decrease of fatigue life
of the other mixtures. And it increased so much at −196 ◦ C.
Analyzing the cause of the result, the fatigue crack gener-
 J.M. Kuk et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 155–156 (2004) 1408–1414
Fig. 8. Effect of temperature and shielding gas mixture on fatigue life.
ation on weld metal was greatly delayed because of high
strength and hardness more than base metal and fusion
line.
4. Conclusions
This study was to evaluate fatigue life of the 5083-O alu-
minum alloy according to the mixing shield gas ratio and
temperature change. The GMAW welding of the base metal
was carried out with four different mixing shield gas ratios,
Ar100% + He0%, Ar67% + He33%, Ar50% + He50%, and
Ar33% + He67%. And fatigue test was performed at +25,
−30, −85, and −196 ◦ C. The summarized results from the
experiment are as follows:
(1) The bead width was greatest in Ar100% + He0% mix-
ture. But the penetration depth and area were greatest in
1413
Ar33% + He67% mixture showing that the lower argon
gas ratio, the higher bead width. The higher heat input,
the more increase of deposit area. It indicates that the
area increased in Ar67% + He33%, Ar100% + He0%,
Ar50% + He50%, and Ar33% + He67% in order. Also,
it particularly increased so much in Ar33% + He67%
mixture and dilution was also the best in the mixing
shield gas ratio.
(2) The fatigue life of all welded specimens regardless of
notch position was higher than that of base metal spec-
imen. And in the influence of mixing gas ratio, fatigue
life of weld metal decreased with higher argon gas ratio,
but fusion line and HAZ specimens were not influenced
greatly. The fatigue life increased at lower temperatures,
particularly at −196 ◦ C.
(3) The lower temperature, the higher fatigue life of base
metal and Ar33% + He67% specimen, the lower fatigue
life of the other specimens up to −85 ◦ C. The fatigue
1414 J.M. Kuk et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 155–156 (2004) 1408–1414
life of all specimens had a tendency to increase much
at −196 ◦ C.
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