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AGA Aluminium Welding Facts About UK
AGA Aluminium Welding Facts About UK
09 2008
FACTS ABOUT
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CONTENTS
Introduction ...................................................................................... 3
Physical properties ........................................................................... 3
Heat treatment. ................................................................................ 4
Strenght of weldment ....................................................................... 5
Filler metal ........................................................................................ 6
Surface preparation .......................................................................... 7
Reducing distortions ........................................................................ 8
Flame straightening.......................................................................... 8
Corrosion .......................................................................................... 8
MIG welding ..................................................................................... 9
Equipment ....................................................................................... 9
Pulsed MIG welding ........................................................................ 9
TIG welding..................................................................................... 10
Equipment ..................................................................................... 10
Welding procedure ........................................................................ 10
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Introduction
Physical properties
Property
Aluminium
Steel
Melting temperature
>570C
>1500C
Density
1/3
Modulus of elasticity
1/3
Thermal conductivity
Linear expansion
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HEAT TREATMENT
Heat treatment
Pure aluminium has poor mechanical properties and is
therefore not used in load bearing constructions. The
metal is therefore usually alloyed and heat treated or
hardened to obtain the required properties.
The main groups of aluminium alloys are: Al-Cu,
Al-Mn, Al-Si, Al-Mg, Al-Si-Mg, Al-Zn. In Europe, the most
common type of classication for base materials is the
AA classication. The different types can be seen in
Figure 2.
The lXXX, 3XXX, 4XXX and 5XXX alloys are strain
hardened while the 2XXX, 6XXX and 7XXX alloys are
heat treated. A so-called temper designation is put after
the alloy to show how the hardening has been performed.
The most common temper designations for wrought
alloys are:
AA
Terminology
Alloy type
Typical applications
1xxx
Non-alloyed
2xxx
Copper
3xxx
Manganese
4xxx
Silicon
Filler wire
5xxx
Magnesium
6xxx
Silicon + Magnesium
Automotive frames
7xxx
Zinc
8xxx
Other alloying
elements
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STRENGTH OF WELDMENT
Strength of weldment
The heat from welding has great inuence on the internal
structure of the aluminium material. The strength in the
HAZ (heat affected zone) is reduced, sometimes by as
much as 50%, due to the thermal treatment the material
receives during welding. The width of the HAZ depends
on the degree of metallurgical change which in turn
depends on thickness and geometry of the joint, the
welding process, the welding procedure, preheat and
interpass temperature and the thermal effects of backing
and xtures. The HAZ in MIG or TIG welding seldom
extends more than 13 mm from the weld centreline, but
for design purposes it is often assumed to be the double.
The type of alloy plays a role as to how the strength
decreases and to what degree. Figure 3 shows the hardness
distribution for two types of alloys in the 6XXX and 5XXX
series. Observe how the hardening method affects the
distribution.
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FILLER METAL
Filler metal
MIG welding is always conducted with ller metal and TIG
welding is conducted with or without. Filler metal is chosen
in accordance with Figure 4.
The main factors which inuence the ller alloy selection
include the following:
Freedom from hot cracking
Weld metal strength
Weld metal ductility
Corrosion resistance
Base
material
AIZn5Mg1
AISi1Mg
AIMg4
AIMg5
AIMg2.5
AIMg1
AIMn1
AI99.5
Properties
1
2
3
4
1
2
3
4
1
2
3
4
1
2
3
4
1
2
3
4
1
2
3
4
1
2
3
4
AI99.5
AIMn1
AISi5
AISi5
AISi5
AIMg5
AIMg5
AISi5
AISi5
AIMg5
AIMg5
AIMG5
AIMG5
AIMG5
AIMG3.5
AIMG3.5
AIMG3.5
AIMG3.5
AI99.5
AI99.5
AI99.5
AI99.5
AI99.5
AI99.5
AI99.5
AI99.5
AI99.5
AI99.5
AI99.5
AI99.5
AISi5
AISi5
AISi5
AIMG5
AIMg5
AISi5
AISi5
AIMg5
AIMg5
AIMg5
AIMg5
AIMG5
AIMg3.5
AIMg3.5
AIMg3.5
AIMg3.5
AI99.5
AI99.5
AIMn1
AIMn1
AIMn1
AIMn1
AIMn1
AIMn1
AIMg1
AIMg5
AIMg5
AISi5
AIMg5
AIMg5
AIMg5
AISi5
AIMg5
AIMg5
AIMg5
AIMg5
AIMg5
AIMg3.5
AIMg3.5
AIMg3.5
AIMg3.5
AIMg3.5
AIMg3.5
AIMg3.5
AIMg3.5
AIMg2.5
AIMg5
AIMg5
AISi5
AIMg5
AIMg5
AIMg5
AIMg5
AIMg5
AIMg5
AIMg5
AIMg5
AIMg5
AIMg3.5
AIMg3.5
AIMg3.5
AIMg3.5
AIMg4
AIMg5
AIMg5
AIMg5
AISi5
AIMg5
AISi5
AIMg5
AIMg5
AIMg5
AIMg5
AISiMg
AISi5
AIMg5
AIMg5
AISi5
-
AIZn5Mg1
AISi5
AIMg5
AIMg5
AISi5
Properties:
1. Highest strenght
2. Best weldability
3. Best corrosion resistance
4. Best colour match after anodising
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SURFACE PREPARATION
Type
SS-EN AW
Rm base material
(MPa)
Welding method
1100
>70
>70
>70
>70
AISi5
4043
>150
>150
AISi12
4047
AIMg3
5554
>200
>200
AIM4.5Mn
5183
>280
>280
AIMg5
5356
>280
>280
AI99.5
AI99.5Ti
Surface preparation
The cleaning of the surface is necessary in order to achieve
the best welding results. Dirt, oil residues, moisture and
oxides must be removed, either with mechanical or chemical
methods. Hydrogen bearing mixtures represent the largest
problem because they are broken down into atomic hydrogen
in the arc, causing gas porosity in the weld. Normal shop
practise is to mechanically remove the oxide layer by brushing
with a rotating stainless steel brush, scraping or peening.
Light pressure should be used when brushing. Excessive
pressure might lead to locally overheating and distortion
of the metal surface. Chemical treatment includes cleaning
with alcohol or acetone. The chemical treatments may
demand access to costly equipment which often impedes
this treatment. The amount of cleaning necessary largely
depends on how much care has been taken to keep the
metal clean and dry in storage and in subsequent handling
during fabrication.
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Reducing distortions
The following practical hints are good to keep in mind, in
order to reduce distortions due to shrinkage.
Use highly productive welding methods with the
lowest heat input as possible.
Use maximum welding speed.
If butt and llet joints meet, weld the butt joints rst.
Begin welding in the centre of the structure and
proceed symmetrically outwards.
Corrosion
The heat input the welding causes sometimes reduces the
normally so superb corrosion properties of aluminium.
It is the area next to the weld and the weld bead that loses
corrosion resistance due to the creation of a coarse-grained
structure. Solidication cracks that have not been repaired
represent a big problem because the corrosive media easily
opens the cracks and results in a corrosive attack. The 6XXX
and the 7XXX alloys are most sensitive to corrosion after
welding. Pure aluminium and the non-hardenable alloys
are more resistant or are not affected at all. Prolonged
service at elevated temperatures (>65C) causes 5XXX
series alloy with more than 3% magnesium to be sensitive
to stress corrosion.
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MIG welding
MIG welding is an arc welding process which utilises
a wire as combined melting electrode and ller metal
in a direct current (DC), electrode positive arc and inert
shielding gas. Neither alternating current nor direct
current, electrode negative arc has any practical application. The welding current, arc length and electrode wire
speed are controlled by the welding machine and set by
the operator:
Equipment
The following equipment and consumables are used for
the process:
A DC power source designed for MIG welding.
An electrode feeder and gun combination. The feeder
is often of push-pull type, which means that the wire
is pushed through a feed pipe and at the same time is
drawn by the gun.
A shielding gas supply with pressure regulator and
owmeter.
A supply of cooling water when required.
Aluminium and aluminium alloy electrode wire.
Welding procedure
Starting the welding procedure
When start and stop plates are not used, the arc should be
ignited approximately 25 mm in front of the starting point
and is then returned to the starting point where the welding
commences. This pre-warms the material and results in
better penetration and minimises the risk of coldow and
porosity in the beginning of the weld. Another method is
to ignite the arc beside the starting point and then move it
to the starting point. The extra weld bead that this creates
can thereafter be machined.
Procedure
Developing a qualied welding procedure requires
establishing an optimum setting for each parameter; and
the maximum setting for each parameter. The sequence
of steps in the development process usually approximates
the following:
The average welding current should principally be
related to the metal thickness, although the joint type
may also have a support backing. The current
determines the heat and hence the penetration.
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TIG WELDING
TIG welding
The TIG welding process uses a non-consumable tungsten electrode with either alternating current (AC),
direct current with positive electrode or direct current
with negative electrode. Alternating current is mainly
used for aluminium. The TIG process was developed
earlier than the MIG process and was earlier applied
to all metal thicknesses and joint types. Today, TIG is
limited to thin plates of aluminium up to 7 mm, although
the DC mode is suitable for thicknesses up to 26 mm.
Equipment
An AC power source designed for TIG welding.
Shielding gas supply.
Welding procedure
The welding current used is related to the thickness of
the material, because the arc must be hot enough to
give the required penetration. Normally the pool is
ready for ller addition after 3-4 seconds. The average
welder is most comfortable at welding speed of 4 to 5
mm/s when using AC-TIG welding.
The electrode size must be chosen to suit the current
level. An electrode which is too small will overheat
and the molten tip will become unstable and can lead
to droplets of tungsten being transferred into the
weld pool. It is crucial that the electrode is not covered
with thorium. Electrodes covered with zirconium are
preferable.
The electrode size and the current level affect the arc
and the size of the weld pool. These factors will in
turn inuence the selection of the gas cup diameter. A
too small gas cup will not give the necessary gas
shielding. A too large gas cup is wasteful of gas and
interferes with the welder's view of the weld pool. The
inner diameter of the gas cup should be approximately
4 times the electrode diameter.
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Laser welding
Shielding gases
Laser welding has been used on steel for some time, but
laser welding of aluminium is a rather new application.
There are essentially two types of lasers used for sheet
metal welding: CO2 and Nd:YAG lasers. The Nd:YAG
laser emits light in the infrared range with a wavelength
of 1.06m with a maximum, continuous power of
lkW. The low wavelength enables the light to travel in
beroptic cables, which in turn makes the Nd:YAG exible,
making it suitable for robotics applications.
If the power is pulsed, power up to 10kW can be reached.
The Nd:YAG is usually used for precision work on thinner
sheet. The CO2 laser is a gas laser using CO2 together with
N2 and He as laser medium. The wavelength is longer
than that of Nd:YAG, 10.6m which implies that the light
can not pass through beroptics.
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Work environment
Shielding gas
AGA Designation
Argon
I1
Argon
Helium
I2
Helium
Argon + 300ppm NO
MISON Ar
Ar + 30%He + 300ppm NO
MISON He30
Ar + 50% He
I3
VARIGON He50
Ar + 70% He
I3
VARIGON He70
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WELD DEFECT
Weld defects
Defective welds are those that contain discontinuities
serious enough to affect the weld strength or corrosion
resistance. The defects are the results of incorrect metal
preparation, welding procedures or techniques. Common
types include cracks (longitudinal, transversal -not so
common - or crater cracks), excessive porosity, incomplete
fusion, undercuts and inadequate penetration. Incorrect
weld size and shape are also considered as weld defects.
Solidication cracking
Solidication cracking is the result of high thermal
expansion combined with a brittle alloy structure at,
and just above, the solidication temperature. The
metallurgical weakness may result from the wrong ller
alloy, too little ller metal in the weld, too small weld
for the base material thickness or too low welding
speed. If the correct ller metal is selected which
increases the plasticity in the critical temperature range,
the cracking can be avoided. Another way to reduce
solidication cracking is to reduce transverse stress or
increase the amount of edge preparation, or sometimes
both. The 6XXX alloys are particularly sensitive to
solidication cracking.
Incomplete fusion
Incomplete fusion is perhaps the most serious of the
different defects, since it is difcult to detect, and
weakens the joint considerably. It is the result of weld
metal failing to coalesce with the base metal or with
other weld metal. Incomplete fusion may result from
insufcient current, insufcient edge preparation, too
long arc or attempting to weld over oxidised surfaces.
The latter is avoided by cleaning off the oxide properly
before welding.
Method
Radiography
Incomplete
Pores Cracks
fusion
X
Penetrant
Ultrsonic
Eddy current
Porosity
Porosity causes much concern despite the fact that, unless
it is severe or aligned, it usually has less effect on weld
strength than other defects. It is rather easily detected
through standard radiography and thus has become a
highly regulated defect. Porosity is caused by hydrogen
gas trapped in the metal as itcools. The sources of
hydrogen are many, such as moisture and dirt (oil and
grease). To control porosity, it is essential to eliminate
these contaminants by correct metal preparation and
control of the welding procedure. Welding procedure is
important; the longer the weld remains uid, the greater
is the opportunity for the hydrogen to escape. For this
reason, TIG welds usually have less porosity than MIG
welds. The shielding gas, regardless of composition,
should therefore have a purity of at least 99.95% with the
lowest possible moisture and hydrogen content.
Inclusions
Inclusions in aluminium are usually metallic. The most
common is tungsten, transferred through the arc when
TIG welding. Nitrogen can also be a problem because it
readily forms nitrides with aluminium which reduce the
mechanical properties.
Detection
There are several methods of detecting weld defects in
aluminium. Radiographic, penetrant, ultrasonic or eddy
current are all nondestructive (NDT) detection methods
that are readily used on aluminium. Figure 11 shows
what methods are suitable for detecting different types of
defects in aluminium.
Ultrasonic testing is the most effective and used
testing method, but it is important to realise that visual
inspecting is by far the easiest and most inexpensive
method. Frequent visual inspection during welding
can often detect faults early enough to allow corrective
action before a weld is welded over, and thus minimise
repair welding at a later stage.
Incomplete
penetration Inclusion
X
X
X
Figure 11. NDT detection methods and what they can detect.
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09-2008
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