Weldability Investigations of AlCuMg Alloys for Extrusion Welding

Weldability Investigations of AlCuMg Alloys for Extrusion Welding The extrusion of hollow shapes from high strength aluminum alloys with the use of porthole dies encounters, in practice, great difficulties, mainly due to the poor weldability of these materials and the high forces needed to conduct the process. In the work, an original method and a special device are presented, which enable to determine the welding conditions of hard deformable aluminum alloys. The main advantage of the proposed method is that it simulates the conditions occurring in the welding chamber of the porthole dies. The weldability tests were performed for the 2024 alloy with extreme contents of Cu and Mg, in a wide range of welding temperatures and pressures. The microstructure and the seam welds' strength were also examined. The welding conditions for 2024 alloy, which allowed for obtaining high-quality seam welds were determined. The parameter describing the ability to weld was defined as the stress necessary for the welding to the yield stress ratio (σw/k) and was determined for the analyzed alloys. The obtained welding stress values will be the basis for the porthole die design.