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Reduced hot cracking susceptibility by controlling the fusion ratio in laser welding of dissimilar Al alloys joints

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Abstract

With the increasing usage of Al alloys in vehicle manufacture, it is necessary to join dissimilar Al alloys with lap joint. However, hot cracking is a challenging issue due to the chemical composition and thermal tension, which greatly determines the reliability of automobile operation. Among different Al alloys, the series 5000 (Al–Mg) and 6000 (Al–Mg–Si) are widely used. To better understand the hot cracking behavior, various stack ups of AA5754 and AA6013 were laser welded to investigate the effects of process parameters on hot cracking formation. The chemical composition, microstructure, fusion ratio, and fracture morphology of the weld joint were also examined. The results showed that the order of material stacking affected weld’s susceptibility to hot cracking significantly, and the critical process parameters were obtained for tested conditions which could effectively reduce hot cracking. The findings from this work provide guidance for hot cracking prevention in laser welding of dissimilar Al alloys.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 51204109) and the Open Project of Shanghai Key Laboratory of Modern Metallurgy and Materials Processing (SELF-2011-01).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Shanghai Key Laboratory of Materials Laser Processing and Modification, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, 200240, People’s Republic of China

    Yulong Zhang, Fenggui Lu, Xiaojie Wang, Haichao Cui & Xinhua Tang

  2. Shanghai Key Laboratory of Modern Metallurgy and Materials Processing, Shanghai University, Shanghai, 200072, People’s Republic of China

    Fenggui Lu

  3. Manufacturing Systems Research Lab, General Motors Global Research & Development, Warren, Michigan, 48090, USA

    Hui-Ping Wang

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  1. Yulong Zhang
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  2. Fenggui Lu
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  3. Hui-Ping Wang
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  4. Xiaojie Wang
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  5. Haichao Cui
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  6. Xinhua Tang
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Correspondence to Fenggui Lu.

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Zhang, Y., Lu, F., Wang, HP. et al. Reduced hot cracking susceptibility by controlling the fusion ratio in laser welding of dissimilar Al alloys joints. Journal of Materials Research 30, 993–1001 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1557/jmr.2015.64

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