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Procedia Structural Integrity 47 (2023) 842–848

27th International Conference on Fracture and Structural Integrity (IGF27)

27th International Conference on Fracture and Structural Integrity (IGF27)
Mechanical Behavior of Ti6Al4V Laser Welded Single Lap Joints
Mechanical Behavior
A. Califano a
*, V.ofGiannella
Ti6Al4V a Laser aWelded
, F. Caiazzo , F. Bertoc,Single
R. SepeaLap Joints
A. Califanoa*, V. Giannellaa, F. Caiazzoa, F. Bertoc, R. Sepea
University of Salerno, Department of Industrial Engineering, Via Giovanni Paolo II, 132, 84084, Fisciano (SA), Italy
a

b
“La Sapienza”
a University
University of Rome,
of Salerno, Department
Department of Chemical
of Industrial Engineering
Engineering, ViaMaterials
GiovanniEnvironment,
Paolo II, 132,Via Eudossiana,
84084, Fisciano18, 00184
(SA), ItalyRoma, Italy
b
“La Sapienza” University of Rome, Department of Chemical Engineering Materials Environment, Via Eudossiana, 18, 00184 Roma, Italy

Abstract
Abstract
Laser welding technique has recently spread quickly thanks to its numerous advantages compared to traditional welding
techniques,
Laser welding namely high precision,
technique has recently reduced
spreadwelding
quicklybeads size,tohigh
thanks speed and advantages
its numerous possibility to be implemented
compared in mechanical
to traditional welding
automatization
techniques, namely systems.
highOwing to itsreduced
precision, superiorwelding
characteristics and high
beads size, highreliability,
speed andlaser weldingtoisbe
possibility theimplemented
preferred choice especially
in mechanical
for joints madesystems.
automatization with titanium
Owing alloys, which are
to its superior widely usedand
characteristics forhigh
aircraft and aerospace
reliability, structures.
laser welding Therefore,choice
is the preferred the mechanical
especially
behavior
for jointsofmade Ti6Al4V with laser welded
titanium jointswhich
alloys, was investigated
are widely in thisfor
used work.
aircraft and aerospace structures. Therefore, the mechanical
In particular,
behavior six specimens,
of Ti6Al4V cut from
laser welded sixwas
joints different single lap
investigated joints
in this made with different welding parameters, were equipped with
work.
twoparticular,
In strain-gauges and subjected
six specimens, cut to tensile
from tests. Thesingle
six different specimens weremade
lap joints manufactured with six
with different different
welding terns of welding
parameters, parameters:
were equipped with
laserstrain-gauges
two power of 3 kW andfor all joints,
subjected towelding speedThe
tensile tests. equal to 30 mm/s,
specimens were35 mm/s or 40 mm/s
manufactured anddifferent
with six laser beam
ternsfocus equal toparameters:
of welding 0 mm or -
3laser
mmpower(i.e. half
of 3 kW thickness
for all of the welding
joints, joint). Results showed
speed equal that
to 30 the tensile
mm/s, 35 mm/s properties
or 40 mm/sof and
the single lap joints
laser beam were to
focus equal significantly
0 mm or -
3affected
mm (i.e. by the
halfwelding
thickness laser
of focus and that
the joint). the lower
Results the welding
showed that the speed,
tensilethe higher the
properties oftensile strength.
the single The analysis
lap joints of the load-
were significantly
strain
affectedcurves
by theledwelding
to the conclusion
laser focusthatandthe
thatmost resistant
the lower thewelded
weldingjoints were
speed, the those
higherobtained withstrength.
the tensile a weldingThespeed of 30ofmm/s
analysis and
the load-
astrain
surface (i.e.,led
curves 0 mm)
to thefocus of the laser
conclusion beam.
that the most resistant welded joints were those obtained with a welding speed of 30 mm/s and
© 2023 The
a surface (i.e., Authors.
0 mm) focus Published by ELSEVIER
of the laser beam. B.V.
© 2023isThe
This Authors.
anThe
open Published
access by Elsevier
article under B.V.
the CC BY-NC-ND license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0)
© 2023 Authors. Published by ELSEVIER B.V.
This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0)
Peer-review
This is an open under responsibility
access article of the
under the IGF27
CC chairpersons
BY-NC-ND license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0)
Peer-review under responsibility of the IGF27 chairpersons
Keywords:
Peer-review Laser welding;
under Single-lap joints;
responsibility Mechanical
of the IGF27 behaviour; Finite element method
chairpersons
Keywords: Laser welding; Single-lap joints; Mechanical behaviour; Finite element method

1. Introduction
1. Introduction
The Laser Beam Welding (LBW) technique has superior performances if compared to traditional welding
techniques.
The LaserAsBeama matter of fact,
Welding it allows
(LBW) to obtain
technique reduced performances
has superior Heat-Affected ifZone (HAZ)todimensions,
compared reduced
traditional welding
distortions,
techniques. high
As aprecision andfact,
matter of high itspeed (Sepe
allows to etobtain
al. (2021)). ForHeat-Affected
reduced these reasons, LBW
Zone technique is appealingreduced
(HAZ) dimensions, for the
distortions, high precision and high speed (Sepe et al. (2021)). For these reasons, LBW technique is appealing for the

* Corresponding author. Tel.: +39-389-964-070.

* Corresponding amcalifano@unisa.it
E-mail address:author. Tel.: +39-389-964-070.
E-mail address: amcalifano@unisa.it
2452-3216 © 2023 The Authors. Published by ELSEVIER B.V.
This is an open
2452-3216 access
© 2023 The article
Authors.under the CCby
Published BY-NC-ND
ELSEVIERlicense
B.V. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0)
Peer-review under
This is an open responsibility
access of the
article under theIGF27 chairpersons
CC BY-NC-ND license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0)
Peer-review under responsibility of the IGF27 chairpersons

2452-3216 © 2023 The Authors. Published by ELSEVIER B.V.

This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0)
Peer-review under responsibility of the IGF27 chairpersons
10.1016/j.prostr.2023.07.035
 A. Califano et al. / Procedia Structural Integrity 47 (2023) 842–848 843
2 Author name / Structural Integrity Procedia 00 (2019) 000–000

aeronautic and aerospace fields, in which extremely precise and strong joints are needed for constituting reliable
components and sub-components made in high-performing materials, such as Ti-based alloys (Quazi et al. (2020)).
Nevertheless, LBW for Ti-based alloys is a complicated process due to uneven temperature, non-uniform chemical
composition and stress. Furthermore, change in the heat input affects the weld microstructure and mechanical
properties due to poor thermal conductivity of titanium alloys (Auwal et al. (2018)). Moreover, the cost of laser
welding is higher than that of the traditional processes, to not count that accurate beam/joint alignment and surface
preparation are mandatory for obtaining a good quality weld (Caiazzo et al. (2015)).
Among the Ti-based alloys, the Ti6Al4V is perhaps the most used and preferred for its excellent mechanical
properties, low specific weight, and high corrosion resistance. However, if, on one hand, traditional welding
techniques (plasma arc (Gao et al. (2021)), electron beam welding, TIG (Omoniyi et al. (2021))) are conventionally
and widely used to join Ti6Al4V, on the other hand, LBW has been receiving an ever-increasing interest only in
recent years (Boccarusso et al. (2017)). Lately, the mechanical properties of laser-welded Ti6Al4V joints have been
investigated and it has been observed that the welding parameters have a significant impact on microstructures,
mechanical properties and welding defects (Akman et al. (2009)). Cao and Jahazi, (2009) found out that the HAZ
width decreases with increasing welding speed and that, compared to the parent material, the final joint obtained
from two Ti6Al4V alloy sheets has a slightly higher strength with reduced ductility. Xu et al. (2020) focused their
attention on the effects of the defocusing distance and the welding speed on transverse weld geometry, highlighting
that both parameters could be optimized in order to limit the geometry defects. LBW butt joints in Ti-6Al-4V were
also investigated under different welding regimes (Squillace et al. (2012)) showing that an underfill defect was
always present, being its characteristics dependent from the specific heat input. Different welding conditions have
been also explored by Kumar et al. (2017) concluding that the welding speed has the highest impact on the
mechanical behavior of joints, followed by laser beam power and by laser position finally.
Within this framework, the current work was based on preliminarily investigating the static tensile behavior of
Ti6Al4V laser welded single lap joints. In particular, joints with different combination of welding parameters (i.e.
laser power, laser speed and laser focus) were obtained and the related specimens were experimentally tested. The
final goal was comparing the mechanical properties of the different specimens and gaining insights about the effect
that the different welding parameters used for obtaining the original joints have on them.

Nomenclature

HAZ Heat-Affected Zone

LBW Laser-Beam Welding
S1 Strain-gauge 1
S2 Strain-gauge 2
TIG Tungsten Inert Gas

2. Materials and Methods

The case studies are single-lap joints obtained by welding two plates of Ti6Al4V having sizes 200 mm x 100 mm
x 3 mm. In detail, twelve joints were obtained by varying the following laser welding parameters:
• laser power, equal to 3 kW for all joints;
• welding speed, equal to 30 mm/s, 35 mm/s or 40 mm/s;
• laser beam focus, equal to 0 mm or -3 mm.
The twelve joints were subdivided into six classes (from A to F), according to the fixed tern of parameters chosen
for the welding phase (Table 1); this means two joints for tested for each class and identified as it follows: A1, A2,
B1, B2, C1, C2, D1, D2, E1, E2, F1 and F2.
844 A. Califano et al. / Procedia Structural Integrity 47 (2023) 842–848
Author name / Structural Integrity Procedia 00 (2019) 000–000 3

Table 1: Classification of joints according to the welding parameters.

Joint Class Laser Power [kW] Laser Speed [mm/s] Laser Focus [mm]

A 3.0 30 0.0
B 3.0 35 0.0
C 3.0 40 0.0
D 3.0 30 -3.0
E 3.0 35 -3.0
F 3.0 40 -3.0

A schematization of a single lap joint, together with sizes and dimensions, is reported in Figure 1. It can be
noticed that the overlapping region had a length of 30 mm, hence the final joint had in-plane sizes 200 mm x 170
mm. Then, seven slices were obtained by cutting each joint perpendicularly to the welding direction with a width of
21 mm later these were milled to obtain the final specimens with width of 20 mm. Therefore, fourteen specimens for
each class (seven from the first joint and seven from the second joint) were available. At this point, for carrying out
the mechanical testing, six specimens (one for each class) were selected and named 1A1, 1B1, 1C1, 1D1, 1E1 and
1F1. Each of the six specimens was equipped with two strain-gauges (named S1 and S2), one for each side of the
welding bead, with the aim of measuring the local axial deformations of the welded zone. In particular, S1 was
glued on the same face as that of the welding bead, while S2 was glued on the opposite face of the specimen. The
chosen strain-gauges were the HBM LY71-1.5/120 (120 Ohm of nominal electrical resistance) that were bonded on
the specimens through HBM Z70 cyanoacrylate glue. A layout of strain gauges is reported in Figure 2a, while a
picture of an actual specimen (1B1) in reported in Figure 2b.
Each of the six specimens was subjected to a static tensile test, according to the ASTM E8 (2016) by using a
MTS Insight 30 testing machine equipped with a load cell of 30 kN and using a crosshead speed of 1.5 mm/min.

Fig. 1. Drawing of a single lap joint.

Specimens were mounted onto the machine with the S1 strain-gauge above the welding bead.
4 Author
A. name / Structural
Califano Integrity Structural
et al. / Procedia Procedia 00 (2019)47
Integrity 000–000
(2023) 842–848 845

Fig. 2. (a) Schematization of a specimen obtained from the single lap joint and equipped with two strain-gauges: S1 and S2. (b) Actual equipped
specimen (1B1).

3. Results and Discussion

The results coming from the tensile tests were reported in this section. As a single lap joint, when subjected to a
tensile load, tends to bend in correspondence of the overlapping region, as qualitatively shown in Figure 3a, the
measured strains are mainly compressive. Examples of the load/strain curves are reported in Figure 3b for the
specimen 1C1, showing, on the x-axis, the absolute value of the measured compressive strains. It can be noticed that
the curve obtained from the strains measured by S1 (blue curve) and the one obtained from the strains measured by
S2 (orange curve) are quite in agreement, meaning that the deformations on the two sides of the welding were
similar each other.

Fig. 3. (a) Schematization of the qualitative deformed shape of a single-lap joint subjected to tensile load. (b) Load/Strain curves for the specimen
1C1 obtained through the strain-gauge S1 (blue curve) and the strain-gauge S2 (orange curve).

A comparison of the load/strain curves obtained through S1 for all the specimens is reported in Figure 4a, while
the same curves obtained through S2 are reported in Figure 4b. Analysing Figure 4a, it can be noticed that the
deformations measured on the same side as that of the welding bead are in agreement and similar to each other.
However, this behaviour is not true for the deformations measured on the opposite side, as the curves in Figure
4b clearly diverge. This is associated to the varying characteristics of both the welding and the fracture surfaces, for
the six specimens, which are related to the different combinations of the welding parameters. As a matter of fact, the
846 A. Califano et al. / Procedia Structural Integrity 47 (2023) 842–848
Author name / Structural Integrity Procedia 00 (2019) 000–000 5

different combinations of the welding parameters led, in the original joints, to different welding penetration lengths
and consequently, the strains measured by S2 (namely, the strains on surface that is opposite to the welding bead)
are affected by this phenomenon.

Fig. 4. (a) Load/Strain curves for all the six specimens obtained through S1. (b) Load/Strain curves for all the six specimens obtained through S2.

Moreover, looking at the load/displacement curves for the six specimens (Figure 5), this aspect is even more
evident. Focusing on curves for specimens 1A1, 1B1 and 1C1 (obtained with the same laser focus and laser power,
but different laser speed), it can be noticed that the higher the laser speed, the lower the maximum load to failure. A
similar trend can be found in the load/displacement curves for specimens 1D1, 1E1 and 1F1. In addition, as different
welding penetration lengths are related to different welding widths, pictures of the fracture surfaces of the six
specimens are reported in Figure 6. By a quick visual inspection, focusing, for example, on specimens 1D1, 1E1 and
1F1 (Figs 6d-6f), it can be qualitatively assessed that the higher the laser speed, the thinner the fracture surfaces and,
therefore, the weaker the specimen.

Fig. 5. Load/Displacement curves for all the six specimens, together with their maximum loads to failure.
 A. Califano et al. / Procedia Structural Integrity 47 (2023) 842–848 847
6 Author name / Structural Integrity Procedia 00 (2019) 000–000

Fig. 6. Fracture surfaces of specimens 1A1 (a), 1B1 (b), 1C1 (c), 1D1 (d), 1E1 (e), 1F1 (f).

4. Conclusions

In this work a preliminary investigation on the mechanical behavior of Ti6Al4V laser-welded single-lap joints
was carried out. The attention was focused on assessing the effect that different welding parameters may have on the
mechanical properties of the final joints. For this reason, six specimens, cut out from six different joints obtained
with given, different, terns of welding parameters (laser power, laser speed and laser focus), were equipped with two
strain-gauges each and were subjected to static tensile tests. By analyzing the load/strain and load/displacement
curves and by visual inspecting the fracture surfaces, it was found out that there is a clear dependence between the
mechanical behavior of joints and the welding parameters. In particular, the lower the laser beam speed, the higher
the maximum load to failure. Near future investigations will deal with metallographic analyses of the fracture
surfaces in order to quantitatively assess the link between the laser welding parameters and the fracture surfaces
characteristics. Furthermore, fatigue tests will be carried out on the remaining virgin specimens and finite-element
simulations will be implemented for exploring further conditions and scenarios.

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