Abstract
The adoption of aluminum in the mobile industry is driving development of aluminum alloys. Among the additive elements of aluminum alloy, magnesium is a crucial component commonly included in various commercial aluminum alloys. Because of its ability to enhance solid solution strengthening and work hardening, many researchers are investigating methods to increase the magnesium content in aluminum applications. Almag6 contains more than 6 wt% of magnesium and exhibits excellent structural properties; it possesses higher yield and tensile strengths than the commercial 5XXX series of aluminum materials. However, work-hardening alloys are vulnerable to welding heat. In this study, laser and tungsten arc welding processes were performed to study the effect of welding heat on the mechanical and microstructure properties of Almag6. It was found that the mechanical strength and hardness of the welds reduced significantly. Similar to other work-hardening aluminum alloys, the lowest hardness was measured in the fusion zone with a strength of over 200 MPa. Relatively low breaking strengths were measured in the tungsten arc welding specimens owing to grain coarsening in the welds.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Milovanoff, A., Kim, H. C., De Kleine, R., Wallington, T. J., Posen, I. D., & MacLean, H. L. (2019). A dynamic fleet model of U.S light-duty vehicle lightweighting and associated greenhouse gas emissions from 2016 to 2050. Environmental Science and Technology, 53, 2199–2208. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.8b04249
Davis, J. R. (2001). Alloying: understanding the basics-aluminum and aluminum alloys (1st ed., pp. 351–416). ASM International.
Lee, B.-H., Kim, S.-H., Park, J.-H., Kim, H.-W., & Lee, J.-C. (2016). Role of Mg in simultaneously improving the strength and ductility of Al–Mg alloys. Materials Science and Engineering: A, 657, 115–122. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.msea.2016.01.089
Yang, X., Wang, D., Wu, Z., Yi, J., Ni, S., Du, Y., & Song, M. (2016). A coupled EBSD/TEM study of the microstructural evolution of multi-axial compressed pure Al and Al–Mg alloy. Materials Science and Engineering: A, 658, 16–27. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.msea.2016.01.080
Furukawa, M., Utsunomiya, A., Matsubara, K., Horita, Z., & Langdon, T. G. (2001). Influence of magnesium on grain refinement and ductility in a dilute Al–Sc alloy. Acta Materialia, 49, 3829–3838. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1359-6454(01)00262-2
Zha, M., Li, Y., Mathiesen, R. H., Bjørge, R., & Roven, H. J. (2015). Microstructure evolution and mechanical behavior of a binary Al–7Mg alloy processed by equal-channel angular pressing. Acta Materialia, 84, 42–54. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actamat.2014.10.025
Zha, M., Meng, X.-T., Zhang, H.-M., Zhang, X.-H., Jia, H.-L., Li, Y.-J., Zhang, J.-Y., Wang, H.-Y., & Jiang, Q.-C. (2017). High strength and ductile high solid solution Al–Mg alloy processed by a novel hard-plate rolling route. Journal of Alloys and Compounds, 728, 872–877. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jallcom.2017.09.017
Choi, K.-H., Kim, B.-H., Lee, D.-B., Yang, S.-Y., Kim, N.-S., Ha, S.-H., Yoon, Y.-O., Lim, H.-K., & Kim, S.-K. (2021). Effect of combined extrusion and rolling parameters on mechanical and corrosion properties of new high strength Al-Mg alloy. Metals, 11(3), 445-1–10. https://doi.org/10.3390/met11030445
Kim, N.-S., Choi, K.-H., Yang, S.-Y., Ha, S.-H., Yoon, Y.-O., Kim, B.-H., Lim, H.-K., Kim, S. K., & Hyun, S.-K. (2021). Hot compression behavior of new Al-6Mg and Al-8Mg alloy with improved hot workability fabricated by direct chill casting method. Metals, 11, 288-1–11. https://doi.org/10.3390/met11020288
Ha, S.-H., Yoon, Y.-O., Kim, B.-H., Lim, H.-K., Lee, T.-W., Lim, S.-H., & Kim, S. K. (2019). Oxide scale behavior and surface protection of Al–Mg alloys containing a trace of Ca. International Journal of Metalcasting, 13, 121–129. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40962-018-0234-3
Kang, M., & Kim, C. (2016). In arc fusion welding of Mg-Al2Ca-added Al 5xxx alloys. Defect and Diffusion Forum, 371, 25–30. https://doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/DDF.371.25
Kim, M., Kim, S., Hwang, I., Kim, D.-Y., Kim, Y.-M., Lee, S. H., & Yoon, J. (2021). Resistance spot weldability of aluminum alloy with 6 wt.% magnesium. Journal of Welding and Joining, 39, 480–488. https://doi.org/10.5781/JWJ.2021.39.5.3. in Korean.
Kim, T., Yoon, J., Kim, Y.-M., Hwang, I., Lee, S. H., & Kim, D.-Y. (2021). Weldability evaluation of GMAW and GTAW for Al-6.7 wt.% Mg alloy. Journal of Welding and Joining, 39, 471–479. https://doi.org/10.5781/JWJ.2021.39.5.2. in Korean.
Praveen, P., & Yarlagadda, P. K. D. V. (2005). Meeting challenges in welding of aluminum alloys through pulse gas metal arc welding. Journal of Materials Processing Technology, 164–165, 1106–1112. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmatprotec.2005.02.224
Çam, G., & İpekoğlu, G. (2017). Recent developments in joining of aluminum alloys. The International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technology, 91, 1851–1866. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-016-9861-0
Huskins, E., Cao, B., & Ramesh, K. (2010). Strengthening mechanisms in an Al–Mg alloy. Materials Science and Engineering: A, 527, 1292–1298. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.msea.2009.11.056
Acknowledgements
We acknowledge the financial & technical support provided by the Korea Institute of Industrial Technology (EH-22-060).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
About this article
Cite this article
Kwak, Y., Kang, T., Lee, S.H. et al. Effects of Laser and Tungsten Arc Welding Processes on the Thermal Softening and Mechanical Properties of Almag6 Aluminum Alloy. Int. J. Precis. Eng. Manuf. 24, 531–536 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12541-023-00772-0
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12541-023-00772-0