TIG and MIG welding of 6061 and 7020 aluminium alloys. Microstructural studies and mechanical properties

摘要

Series 6XXX and 7XXX aluminium alloys areconsidered to be of medium and high strength and are widely usedin different industries, such as the aeronautical and automotive.However, their application as structural materials depends on theproper development of their joining processes. The present articledescribes the results obtained from evaluating the microstructure,using both optical microscopy (OM) and scanning electronmicroscopy(SEM), as well as the mechanical properties (hardnessvariations )of welds performed on the alloys with two different arcwelding techniques: GTAW(TIG) and GMAW(MIG). For the latter,filler metal with Al-5Mg composition and A5.10-92 AWSdenomination (AA5356) was used.