Laser-Tungsten Inert Gas (TIG) Hybrid Welding of a 5052 Aluminum Alloy, Part B: Microhardness and Tensile Strength Analysis
X-H. Xu, X-F. LI, W-G. Zhai and W. Zhou
A Nd:YAG laser and a digital welding machine are used to perform laser-tungsten inert gas (TIG) hybrid welding. The experiment is carried out on the 5052 aluminium alloy with a thickness of 3 mm. The influence of two hybrid modes (laser-leading and arc-leading) of laser-TIG hybrid welding on the mechanical properties of the hybrid modes of hybrid welded joint are also investigated. The microhardness of the weld zone is less than the base metal, and the microhardness of laser-leading mode is smaller than that of arc-leading mode in weld centre and heat affected zone (HAZ). The tensile strength of laser leading mode is also larger than that of arc-leading mode.
Keywords: Nd:YAG laser, aluminium alloy, tungsten inert gas, welding, laser-TIG hybrid welding, microhardness, tensile strength, hybrid mode, hybrid mechanism, heat affected zone (HAZ)