Effect of aluminum welding wire mg content on the mechanical properties of Al 5083 alloy weld metal

Abstract

A new aluminum welding wire with 0.8 wt% higher in Mg content was developed and compared with commercial welding wire of the 5000 series. The weldability of the A15083 base material was evaluated using high current metal inert gas (MIG) welding, using the developed A15183 and commercial A15183 welding wire. For the wire with 5.1 wt% Mg content, the hardness of the weld metal decreased with increasing heat input to the center of the weld under low and high heat input conditions. For the wire with 5.9 wt% Mg content, the hardness of the weld metal did not decrease under low and high heat input conditions. The wire with 5.1 wt% Mg content exhibited a tensile strength of about 300 MPa under the low/medium heat input conditions. The tensile strength decreased to 284 MPa under high heat input conditions. However, the welding wire with 5.9 wt% Mg content exhibited a tensile strength of 300 MPa regardless of the heat input condition. Dendritic microstructures were observed in the center of the welds in both wires, with Mg contents of 5.1 wt% and 5.9 wt%, and the second dendrite arm spacing (SDAS) increased with increasing heat input.