Effect of SiO2 flux on the depth of penetration, microstructure, texture and mechanical behavior of AA6063 T6 aluminum alloy using activated TIG welding

• Published in: Bulletin of the Polish Academy of Sciences. Technical sciences Vol. 69; no. 1; p. 136215
• Main Authors: Kumar, Rajiv, Vettivel, S.C., Kumar Kansal, Harmesh
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: Polish; English
• Published: Warsaw Polish Academy of Sciences 01.02.2021
• Subjects: aluminum alloy; Aluminum alloys; Aluminum base alloys; depth of penetration; Ductile fracture; Ductile-brittle transition; Failure modes; Gas tungsten arc welding; Heat affected zone; Mechanical properties; Melting; Nondestructive testing; Penetration; Rare gases; Silicon dioxide; Tensile strength; texture; Ultrasonic testing
• ISSN: 2300-1917; 0239-7528; 2300-1917
• DOI: 10.24425/bpasts.2020.136215

Activated tungsten inert gas (ATIG) welding has a good depth of penetration (DOP) as compared to the conventional tungsten inert gas (TIG) welding. This paper is mainly focused on ATIG characterization and mechanical behavior of aluminum alloy (AA) 6063-T6 using SiO2 flux. The characterization of the base material (BM), fusion zone (FZ), heat affected zone (HAZ) and, partially melted zone is carried out using the suitable characterization methods. The weld quality is characterized using ultrasonic-assisted non-destructive evaluation. A-scan result confirms that the ATIG welded samples have more DOP and less bead width as compared to conventional TIG. The recorded tensile strength of ATIG with SiO2 is better than the conventional TIG welding. The failure mode is ductile for ATIG welding with larger fracture edges and is brittle in the case of conventional TIG welding.