The welding of aluminium and its alloys
The welding of aluminium and its alloys
Gene Mathers
Engineering is not an exact science and, of the many disciplines within engineering, welding is probably one of the most inexact - rather more of an art than a science. Much of the decision-making is based on experience and a ‘gut feel’ for what is or is not acceptable. When the difficulties of shop floor or site control are taken into account and the occasional vagaries of the welder and the sometimes inadequate knowledge of supervisory staff are added, the problems of the practising shop floor engineer can appear overwhelming. I hope that some of this uncertainty can be dispelled in this book, which is aimed at those engineers with little or no knowledge of metallurgy and perhaps only the briefest acquaintance with the welding processes. It does not purport to be a metallurgical or processes textbook and I make no apology for this. Having lectured fairly extensively on welding technology, I have come to realise that most engineers think of metals as being composed of a large number of small billiard balls held together by some form of glue. I have attempted to describe the metallurgical aspects of the aluminium alloys in these terms. I have therefore kept the contents descriptive and qualitative and have avoided the use of mathematical expressions to describe the effects of welding.
The book provides a basic understanding of the metallurgical principles involved in how alloys achieve their strength and how welding can affect these properties. I have included sections on parent metal storage and preparation prior to welding and have also described the more frequently encountered processes. There are recommendations on welding parameters that may be used as a starting point for the development of a viable welding procedure. Also included are what I hope will be useful hints and tips to avoid some of the pitfalls of welding these sometimes problematic materials.
I would like to thank my colleagues at TWI, particularly Bob Spiller, Derek Patten and Mike Gittos, for their help and encouragement during the writing of this book - encouragement that mostly took the form of ‘Haven’t you finished it yet?’. Well, here it is. Any errors, inaccuracies or omissions are mine and mine alone.
Gene Mathers
