Residual Stresses in Laser Beam Welded Butt Joints of the Airframe Aluminium Alloy AA6056

Abstract

Residual stresses in CO2 laser beam welded AA6056 Al-sheets of 3.2 and 6.0 mm thicknesses were studied using neutron and high-energy X-ray diffraction. The influence of the temper T4 and T6 before welding, the effect of sheet thickness in T6 temper, and the effectiveness of post-weld heat treatments T6 and T78 for the reduction of residual stresses in the sheets welded initially in the T4 temper were examined. It was found that tensile longitudinal stresses were significantly higher when welded in T6 than in T4. With the increase in the sheet thickness from 3.2 to 6.0 mm, the residual stress profile was affected more than the stress level when welded in T6. For 3.2 mm sheet, the post-weld heat treatments T6 and T78 did not lead to a significant reduction in residual stresses when welded in T4.