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Mechanical and microstructural characterization of laser-welded joints of 6013-T4 aluminum alloy

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Abstract

Laser beam welding may be used in the place of the traditional riveting process for the welding of the stringers to the skin in aircrafts. This work intends to investigate the mechanical behavior of laser-welded aluminum AA6013, subjected to post-welding heating treatments (PWHT). A fiber laser with an average power of 1.5 kW was used to weld two 1.6-mm-thick sheets in T-joint configuration. After welding, the samples were separated in three groups: the first just welded, the second subjected to a PWHT during 4 h at 190 °C and the third during 2 h at 205 °C. Hoop tensile tests showed that the thermal treatment at 190 °C for 4 h increased the tensile strength in 76 MPa, but the strain had decreased 4 %; the thermal treatment at 205 °C for 2 h increased maximum strength in 65 MPa, with a decrease in strain of 5 %. In T-pull tensile tests, the tensile properties of as-welded and PWHT samples remained the same. Standard S–N curve showed that the welding reduce the number of cycles to failure for the tested stairs. PWHT did not affect fatigue properties.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank the financial support of the following agencies: FAPESP, CNPq, CAPES and FINEP.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Instituto Tecnológico de Aeronáutica, ITA, São José dos Campos, SP, Brazil

    Rafael Humberto Mota de Siqueira & Milton Sérgio Fernandes de Lima

  2. Instituto de Estudos Avançados, IEAv, São José dos Campos, SP, Brazil

    Aline Capella de Oliveira, Rudimar Riva, Antonio Jorge Abdalla & Milton Sérgio Fernandes de Lima

  3. Faculdade de Engenharia de Guaratinguetá, UNESP, Guaratinguetá, SP, Brazil

    Antonio Jorge Abdalla

  4. Escola de Engenharia de Lorena, USP, Lorena, SP, Brazil

    Carlos Antonio Reis Pereira Baptista

Authors
  1. Rafael Humberto Mota de Siqueira
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  2. Aline Capella de Oliveira
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  3. Rudimar Riva
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  4. Antonio Jorge Abdalla
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  5. Carlos Antonio Reis Pereira Baptista
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  6. Milton Sérgio Fernandes de Lima
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Milton Sérgio Fernandes de Lima.

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Technical Editor: Alexandre Mendes Abrao.

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de Siqueira, R.H.M., de Oliveira, A.C., Riva, R. et al. Mechanical and microstructural characterization of laser-welded joints of 6013-T4 aluminum alloy. J Braz. Soc. Mech. Sci. Eng. 37, 133–140 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40430-014-0175-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40430-014-0175-6

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