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- Aluminium (7)
- GTA welding (3)
- Grain refinement (3)
- Kornfeinung (3)
- WIG-Schweißen (3)
- Al Ti5B1 (2)
- Alloy 1050A (2)
- Alloy 5083 (2)
- Alloy 6082 (2)
- Aluminium alloy (2)
Grain refinement is an important opportunity to improve mechanical properties of fusion welds and the weldability (cracking sensitivity) of the base metal. In this thesis, grain refinement was achieved for aluminium welds by additions of a grain refiner. For this purpose, inserts consisting of aluminium base metal and small additions of commercial Al Ti5B1 grain refiner were cast, deposited in base metal plates, and fused in a gas tungsten arc (GTA) welding process. As a result, higher grain refiner additions increased the weld’s titanium and boron content resulting in a significant decrease in the weld metal mean grain size up to 86%. This grain size reduction led to a transition from predominantly columnar to equiaxed grain shape (columnar to equiaxed transition CET). The grain refinement was thereby found to be strongly dependent upon the base metal chemical composition. Accordingly, the grain refining efficiency was the highest in commercial pure Al (Alloy 1050A, Al 99.5), followed by Alloy 6082 (Al Si1MgMn) and Alloy 5083 (Al Mg4.5Mn0.7). In this regard, the parameters P and Q were applied to investigate the influence of alloying elements on the supply of constitutional undercooling during solidification and on final grain size. Also, WDS (wavelength dispersive x-ray spectroscopy) and TEM (transmission electron microscopy) analysis found an increasing number of particles rich in Ti and B. These substrates are probably TiB2 particles coated by Al3Ti likely nucleating Al grains during solidification. The variation in torch speed showed that increasing torch speeds support the CET effect leading to many small and equiaxed grains at high torch speed. To give explanations for this observation, the thermal conditions, that are controlled by welding parameters such as torch speed, were determined with temperature measurements via thermocouples. These measurements revealed that solidification parameters like solidification growth rate, cooling rate, (local) thermal gradient and solidification time vary significantly along the solidification front (from weld centreline to weld fusion line). In a further step, the solidification parameters were related to the corresponding grain size and shape. On the basis of this comparison, an analytical approach was used to model the CET. This allowed the prediction of critical values for both solidification growth rate and thermal gradient, at which the CET occurs in aluminium weld metal. The influence of grain refinement on the weld mechanical properties was investigated in tensile tests. Accordingly, the ductility of Alloy 5083 welds was increased through grain refinement whereas no improvement in weld metal strength was observed. Furthermore, tear tests with notched specimens revealed for Alloy 1050A that the resistance against initiation and propagation of cracks in the weld metal can be enhanced through grain refinement. In addition, when welding Alloy 6082, weld metal grain refinement prevented the formation of centreline solidification cracking that was present only in welds with unrefined grain structure. On the basis of the above experiments, the Ti/B contents needed in commercial filler wires or rods to allow optimum weld metal grain refinement were estimated. Accordingly, this work gives specific recommendations to filler material producers through a simple calculation that considers the influence of base alloy and welding process. The results show that the Ti/B contents defined by the corresponding standards for filler alloys are too low to allow weld metal grain refinement.
Grain refinement is an important possibility to enhance the mechanical properties such as strength, ductility and toughness of aluminium weld metal. In this study, grain refinement was achieved through the addition of commercial grain refiner Al Ti5B1 to gas tungsten arc weld metal of the aluminium alloys 1050A (Al 99.5) and 5083 (Al Mg4.5Mn0.7). The grain refiner additions led to a significant reduction of the weld metal mean grain size (Alloy 1050A, 86 %; Alloy 5083, 44 %) with a change in grain shape from columnar to equiaxed. Tensile tests showed for Alloy 5083 that the weld metal's ductility can be increased through grain refinement. No improvement in weld metal strength (i.e. yield strength and ultimate tensile strength) was observed. Furthermore, tear tests with notched specimens revealed that the resistance against initiation and propagation of cracks in the weld metal can be enhanced through grain refinement. The toughness was observed to increase clearly by grain refinement in weld metal of commercial pure Al (Alloy 1050A). In Alloy 5083 weld metal, the toughness was not improved through grain refinement, likely because of a semi-continuous network of brittle intermetallic phases that facilitate crack propagation.
Refinement of the weld metal grain structure can improve the mechanical properties of the weld and decrease the susceptibility to solidification cracking of the weld metal. In this study, commercial Al Ti5B1 grain refiner was used to refine the microstructure of LB (laser beam) and GTA (gas tungsten arc) aluminum welds by inoculation. The grain refiner additions led to a significant decrease in the weld metal mean grain size whereby a transition from columnar to equiaxed grain structure (Columnar to Equiaxed Transition, CET) was observed. The development of both grain size and shape depended upon the base metal (Al alloys 1050A, 5083 and 6082) and upon the welding process. The GTA welding process allowed a more pronounced and a more efficient refinement than in LB welds. Furthermore, the influence of the solidification conditions on the CET was investigated through temperature measurements in the weld metal. The temperature profiles revealed a faster solidification of LB welds than in GTA welds. The results from the temperature measurements were also used to estimate (according to an existing model) the critical thermal gradient at which the CET occurs.
Influence of solute content and solidification parameters on grain refinement of aluminum weld metal
(2013)
Grain refinement provides an important possibility to enhance the mechanical properties (e.g., strength and ductility) and the weldability (susceptibility to solidification cracking) of aluminum weld metal. In the current study, a filler metal consisting of aluminum base metal and different amounts of commercial grain refiner Al Ti5B1 was produced. The filler metal was then deposited in the base metal and fused in a GTA welding process. Additions of titanium and boron reduced the weld metal mean grain size considerably and resulted in a transition from columnar to equiaxed grain shape (CET). In commercial pure aluminum (Alloy 1050A), the grain-refining efficiency was higher than that in the Al alloys 6082 and 5083. Different welding and solidification parameters influenced the grain size response only slightly. Furthermore, the observed grain-size reduction was analyzed by means of the undercooling parameter P and the growth restriction parameter Q, which revealed the influence of solute elements and nucleant particles on grain size.
Kornfeinung im Schweißgut kann die mechanischen Eigenschaften der Schweißnaht und die Schweißeignung des Grundwerkstoffs deutlich verbessern. Eine Möglichkeit korngefeintes Schweißgut zu erreichen, ist das Versetzen des Schmelzbades mit kornfeinenden Mitteln. In dieser Studie wird gezeigt wie Titan- und Borzusätze Korngröße und -struktur von WIG-Schweißnähten der Al-Legierung 5083 (Al Mg4,5Mn0,7) beeinflussen. Dazu wurden in einem Gießprozess stäbchenförmige Einlagen hergestellt, die aus Grundwerkstoff und definierten Zusätzen der Kornfeinungslegierung Al Ti5B1 bestanden. Sie wurden als Ersatz für einen Schweißzusatzwerkstoff in einer Nut im Grundwerkstoff untergebracht und im WIG-Verfahren überschweißt. Durch die Steigerung des Titan- und Borgehalts im Schweißgut konnte dessen mittlere Korngröße deutlich verringert werden. Außerdem wurde eine Änderung der Kornstruktur beobachtet. Die Ergebnisse können als Grundlage genutzt werden, um die empfohlene chemische Zusammensetzung von Schweißzusätzen für Lichtbogenschweißen von Aluminium anzupassen.
The occurrence of solidification cracking during welding remains a little understood phenomenon, in spite of extensive studies and tests performed to evaluate and compare the relative weldability of many different alloys. From an approach often adopted in the welding community attributed to Prokhorov, solidification cracks are believed to form when a critical tensile strain is exceeded, specific to the alloy, assuming that the mushy-zone has limited ductility. Tensile stresses and strains normally form behind a moving weld pool as a result of solidification shrinkage and thermal contraction, as influenced by welding parameters and the degree of restraint.
Grain refinement is an important possibility to enhance the weldability of aluminium weld metal that is usually defined by its susceptibility to solidification cracking. In this study, grain refinement was achieved through the addition of commercial grain refiner containing titanium and boron to the GTA weld metal of aluminium alloy 6082. The weld metal mean grain size could be reduced significantly from about 70 µm to a saturated size of 21 µm with a change in grain shape from columnar to equiaxed. The grain refinement prevented the formation of centreline solidification cracking that was present only in welds with unrefined grain structure. A variation of torch speed led to a strong change of solidification parameters such as cooling rate that was measured in the weld metal and the corresponding solidification rate and thermal gradient. The ratio thermal gradient/growth rate (G/R) decreased from 50 K s/mm² (high torch speed) to 10 K s/mm² (low torch speed). However, the variation of torch speed did not change the tendency for solidification cracking. The microstructure of unrefined and completely refined weld metal was compared. The observed change in size and distribution of the interdendritic phases was related to the change in susceptibility to solidification cracking.
The microstructure of a fusion weld has great influences on the susceptibility of the base material to hot cracking and on the mechanical properties of the weld. Small, globulitic grains are necessary for increased strength, ductility and toughness and for a low inclination to hot cracking instead of large, oblong grains. This study reports on the factors which exert the main influences on such grain refinement in the weld. Thus, the influences of the thermal conditions, the chemical composition of the weld metal and the number and type of solidification nuclei on the microstructure were classified for the TIG welding of three different aluminium alloys.