This article reports a study of texture characterization in Nd:YAG laser welds of AA5182-O and AA6111-T4 alloys. Electron backscattering diffraction (EBSD) in the scanning electron microscope was used to determine the texture. The determination was made as a function of thickness through the sample. The results show that the welds can develop significant texture. In particular, the columnar grains that grow from the base metal into the weld have a strong 001 texture along the direction of growth.The reduced weight and high strength-to-weight ratio of aluminum alloys make them desirable alternatives for automotive structural materials. However, some significant challenges remain in the large-scale implementation of aluminum alloys in the automotive industry. One of these pertains to the selection of joining methodologies and how these methodologies impact the mechanical properties of aluminum joints. The possibility of using laser welding is very attractive because of its speed, and a number of investigations have examined its application to aluminum alloys. [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8] However, there are some concerns with this process. For example, aluminum alloy weld strength may decrease, with respect to the parent metal. This effect is especially pronounced with heat-treatable aluminum alloys due to the loss of the T-temper treatment. Attempts to improve aluminum weld strength therefore may involve alteration of welding process parameters and postweld heat treatment.Most published work on the weld microstructure of aluminum alloys has focused on linking the weld microstructure as observed with optical microscopy or scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to the measured mechanical properties of the weld and to the compositional changes in the weld zone. Given that texture often causes anisotropic mechanical properties, its presence in the weld zones of aluminum alloys could be quite significant. An important technique for texture characterization in metals is electron backscattered diffraction (EBSD), and Reference 9 describes both the technique and a number of its applications. While the EBSD technique has been widely used to investigate texture in aluminum alloys, it has only recently been used to investigate texture in aluminum welds. To date, these studies have focused on friction stir welds, [10,11] and no studies appear to have examined texture development in laser welds in aluminum alloys. The purpose of the present work is to characterize the textures at selected depths of autogenous Nd:YAG laser welds in AA5182-O and AA6111-T4 alloys.The materials examined in this work were AA5182-O and AA6111-T4 aluminum alloys. AA5182-O is a solid-solutionstrengthened alloy that is commonly used for automotive structural components. AA6111-T4 is a solution-treated and naturally aged alloy that is usually used for automotive body panels due to its relatively high strength and good dent resistance. Typical chemical compositions of these alloys are listed in Table I and typical tensile properties are listed in Table II.Autoge...
The present article is the first part in a two-part series in which crystallographic texture developed during friction stir processing of AA5182-O and AA6111-T4 is characterized and its impact on tensile properties explored. For the texture measurements, coupons were cut from the friction stir processed zone at selected orientations relative to the direction of tool translation. Texture was characterized with electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) in a scanning electron microscope. Measurements were made at key positions along the coupon surfaces and texture differences between the two friction stir processed Al alloys are discussed in detail. Grain size variations were also measured in both the base and friction stir processed materials and subsequently compared. In part 2, a state-of-art digital image correlation technique is used to investigate tensile properties of both friction stir processed Al alloys. The impact of crystallographic texture on mechanical properties is also explored in this latter part.
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