Figure 13.14.

Strain/stress diagram in the welding of flexible structures To eliminate these deformations or these internal stresses that affect all the parts, the adapted welding process imposes a specific positioning and an order of bead execution (see Figure 13.15). The overall level of the residual stress in the parts thus depends primarily on the edge positioning and clamping. Holding parts in position will always be achieved by clamping in a direction minimizing the dilation effect during the welding cycle; according to product thickness in the case of sheets, and in a direction parallel to the weld beads for profiles. 13.4.3. Shrinkage The shrinkage phenomena, which accompanies the formation of a melted zone, are complex because they depend on the chemical composition of the weld pool, and the quantity of molten metal. It is reduced by employing fillers of the 4000 series (4043A and especially 4047A). This shrinkage is in fact the combination of two phenomena: a very localized heating of a compressed zone (as described in section 13.5.1), the liquid zone being free from any stress; the solidification of the molten zone, which is then subject to tension (with risk of hot cracking if the alloy is susceptible), and thus ends in generalized tensile forces being exerted on the bead zone. We must keep in mind that a bead is always shorter than the parts at the outset. The deformations can sometimes be reduced by pre-deformations or a positioning that anticipates them. At this stage it is necessary to distinguish transverse bead shrinkage from longitudinal bead shrinkage. In basic terms, transverse bead shrinkage can be estimated as varying between 0.3 and 1 mm according to the bead shape (fillet or butt weld) and according to its volume (a function of product thickness). In the case of deformable products, it is not uncommon that it results in angular deformations of the welded parts. Longitudinal shrinkage, always self-restrained, is often transformed on thick products into internal stresses and it is difficult to eliminate it on thin and/or long products without pre-deformation of the parts to be welded (local lengthening of the zone to be welded). The welding of discontinuous beads (short runs) is used to decrease the amplitude of the deformation from these shrinkages. 13.4.4. Basic rules To minimize these deformations, there are two rules to respect: to allow dilation to take place readily by designing so-called sliding assemblies. These are very often in the form of lap welds in the dilation direction.

Welding Aluminum Alloys 465

Thickness of the products Width of HAZ (mm) 0 <thick.6 mm 20 6 thick.12 mm 30 12 thick.25 mm 35 thick. > 25 40
Table 13.5.Width of the HAZ taken into account in calculations

These values are generally lower than those of unassembled materials because of the presence of a softened HAZ or a molten zone which does not have the same metallurgical structure. The softening factor HAZ depends on the initial state of the products and the

process used. It is tabulated according to the alloy, its thermal state (H or T) and the welding process for 6000 alloys (TIG or MIG). Family of alloys Thermal state (MIG) (TIG)
1000 H14 0.6 0.6 3000 H14, H16, H18 0.6 0.6 5000 H22 H24 0.86 0.8 0.86 0.8 6000 T4 T5 T6 1 0.65 0.65 0.6 0.5 7000 T6 0.8 to 1 0.6 to 0.8
The value of 1 is taken with alloys in the state F, O or H111

Table 13.6.Coefficient of HAZ modification; from [ENV 99b] Filler Alloy 5052 5454 5083 6060 6005A 6061 6082 7020 5356 170 220 240 160 180 190 210 260

Allowable stress value fMZ(MPa)

4043A 150 160 170 190 210 Table 13.7.Allowable stress value in the molten zone fMZ of some alloys; from [ENV 99b]

466 Metallurgy and Mechanics of Welding The bead stress limit fW depends on the metals to be assembled and the filler

used (5356 and 4043A). In the case of a heterogenous weld, the lowest stress limit is used. The checking of the weld is carried out, by applying the traditional Von Mises criterion to the HAZ, thereby taking account of the reduction of allowable stress fHAZ in the HAZ and fMZ in the MZ. In the case of fillet welds, the Beta formula, which is also applicable to steel, is used to take into account parallel and perpendicular shearing of the cord. With aluminum alloys, is taken as equal to 1.

2 //

2 3 2 c
The normal stresses, parallel to the fillet weld beads, are not taken into account in the calculation of the beads. Moreover, the stability conditions of the parts to buckling take into account the influence of the HAZ by means of an asymmetry coefficient s which is increased in the presence of welds. The factors of welding dispersion and execution quality are taken into account by using a safety coefficient MS which reduces the stress limit. For beads carried out with a normal welding quality, this coefficient has the value MS = 1.25. For beads

welded at a lower quality level, the value is MS = 1.60. In the case of a fillet weld or lapped joint, the dimensioning calculations of two particular cases that are frequently dealt with are presented below (see Figures 13.19 and 13.20).
Figure 13.19.Double fillet weld, subject to a load perpendicular to the welding axis

2 3 2 c