Welding of Aluminium and Its Alloys
Discover the depths of aluminium welding in this useful post by Gene Mathers (2011). Learn about the definition of welding, strengthening mechanisms, location criteria, alloying elements, and more.
In the book “The welding of aluminium and its alloys” by Gene Mathers (2011)
1 – Introduction to the welding of aluminium
- Introduction
- Characteristics of aluminium
- Products forms
- Welding: a new definition
2 – Welding metallurgy
- Introduction
- Strengthening mechanisms
- Aluminium weldability problems
- Strength loss due to welding
3 – Material standards, designations and alloys
- Designation criteria
- Alloying elements
- CEN designation system
- Specific alloy metallurgy
- Filler metal selection
4 – Preparation for welding
- Introduction
- Storage and handling
- Plasma-arc cutting
- Laser beam cutting
- Water jet cutting
- Mechanical cutting
- Cleaning and degreasing
Some interesting pictures from this book
Figure 2.1 – Definition of weld features
Figure 2.3 – General relationship of grain size with strength, ductility and toughness
Figure 2.5 – Illustration of the effect of cold work on strength, hardness and ductility
Figure 2.6 – Illustration of the solution treatment and age-(precipitation) hardening heat treatment cycle
Figure 2.11 – Solidification of a metal
Figure 2.17 – Effect of annealing temperature on cold work and strength
Figure 2.18 – Effect of welding on strength in cold worked alloy. Figure 2.19 – Effect of welding on 6061-T6 age-hardened alloy – as welded.
- The cold worked alloys will experience a loss of strength due to recrystallization in the HAZ. Recrystallization begin to take place when the temperature in the HAZ exceeds 200 ⁰C and progressively increases with full annealing taking place over 300 ⁰C (see Figure 2.17). In Figure 2.18 is shown the loss of strength for a TIG welded 5xxx alloy.
- The loss in tensile strength in the heat-treatable alloys (Figure 2.19) is caused by a dissolution of the precipitates in the 2xxx series aluminium alloys and a coarsening or overageing of the precipitates in the 6xxx and 7xxx aluminium alloys.