Weight reduction of transport vehicles is promoted by extensively employing aluminum alloys for the improvement of the fuel consumption efficiency which is believed to be effective for decreasing the global warming gases. At present, the main applications of aluminium in car parts can be found in heat exchangers, wheel parts and engine parts. In future extensive uses of aluminium metals are expected in hoods, trunk lids, doors, roofs and underbody parts. This paper introduces the energy efficiency and the joint strength characteristics in the use of various joining processes as MIG arc, YAG laser and friction stir welding for aluminum alloys (Al-Mg-Si series alloys, Al-Mg series, Al-Zn-Mg series). To assess the environmental compatibility of the joining process, the joining energy required for each process was calculated as the total of the primary power input and the energy required for producing the amount of shielding gas used for joining a 1-m, 2-mm thick butt joint. Experimental results show that the joint strength of aluminium welds can be lower than that of the base material due to the softening of the heat affected zone formed by welding. It is therefore important, to grasp the degree of softening by welding heat for each welding process. Influence of welding heat on hardness distributions and joint strength of butt joints with Al-0.5Mg-0.6Si(SP540)-T5 alloy are investigated. Characteristics of combined joining processes and plural-electrode processes, as hybrid YAG laser-MIG welding and Double-Wire MIG welding, are presented and their applicability to overlap joints that are frequently used in car fabrication is discussed. The applicability of friction stir welding (FSW) to produce overlap joints for both heat treatable and non-heat treatable alloys is described.


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    Title :

    Welding properties of aluminum alloys for automotive structures


    Additional title:

    Schweißeigenschaften von Aluminiumlegierungen für Fahrzeugstrukturbauteile


    Contributors:


    Publication date :

    2004


    Size :

    12 Seiten, 14 Bilder, 3 Tabellen, 22 Quellen



    Type of media :

    Conference paper


    Type of material :

    Print


    Language :

    English




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