Effect of pulsed current welding on fatigue behaviour of high strength aluminium alloy joints

High strength aluminium alloys (Al–Zn–Mg–Cu alloys) have gathered wide acceptance in the fabrication of light weight structures requiring high strength-to weight ratio, such as transportable bridge girders, military vehicles, road tankers and railway transport systems. The preferred welding processes of high strength aluminium alloy are frequently gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW) process and gas metal arc welding (GMAW) process due to their comparatively easier applicability and better economy. Weld fusion zones typically exhibit coarse columnar grains because of the prevailing thermal conditions during weld metal solidification. This often results inferior weld mechanical properties and poor resistance to hot cracking. In this investigation, an attempt has been made to refine the fusion zone grains by applying pulsed current welding technique. Rolled plates of 6 mm thickness have been used as the base material for preparing single pass welded joints. Single V butt joint configuration has been prepared for joining the plates. The filler metal used for joining the plates is AA 5356 (Al–5Mg (wt%)) grade aluminium alloy. Four different welding techniques have been used to fabricate the joints and they are: (i) continuous current GTAW (CCGTAW), (ii) pulsed current GTAW (PCGTAW), (iii) continuous current GMAW (CCGMAW) and (iv) pulsed current GMAW (PCGMAW) processes. Argon (99.99% pure) has been used as the shielding gas. Fatigue properties of the welded joints have been evaluated by conducting fatigue test using rotary bending fatigue testing machine. Current pulsing leads to relatively finer and more equi-axed grain structure in gas tungsten arc (GTA) and gas metal arc (GMA) welds. In contrast, conventional continuous current welding resulted in predominantly columnar grain structures. Grain refinement is accompanied by an increase in fatigue life and endurance limit.