Laser welding of Al 6061-T6
- Univ. of Illinois, Urbana, IL (United States)
Recently, high speed welding of aluminum alloys for automobile applications has generated considerable interest. However, welding of aluminum alloys poses several problems, such as porosity, drop through, and loss of alloying elements by evaporation. This paper describes the results of welding efforts with a 6 kW CO{sub 2} laser. But welding of 3.14 mm thick plates of Al 6061-T6 was carried out with a keying frequency of 50 kHz and average incident laser powers of up to 5.6 kW, with welding speeds of 4.2 and 8.5 cm/s. Microstructure and mechanical properties of the weld metal were studied and effects of the process parameters on the properties have been established. Initial data obtained in the present investigation reveals the following trends. As expected, the laser welded microstructure is essentially fine-grained in the fusion zone with second-phase precipitates distributed uniformly. Ultimate tensile strengths of the laser weldments are much lower compared to the original wrought alloy. Subsequent heat-treating of the weldments to their original T6 temper yields strengths and hardness properties that are as good as or superior to the original condition. Porosity has been virtually eliminated and the welds are crack-free under optimum processing conditions.
- OSTI ID:
- 442974
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-950682--; ISBN 0-87170-567-2
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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