Study on performance of 6156 skin butt joint with laser beam welding

The laser beam welding characteristics of 6156 aluminum butt joint with and without filling wire are investigated.The factors which influence the weld appearance and weld width are analyzed.The variety rule of tensile and fatigue strength are discussed.The results show that the appearance of the weld joint with filler metal is better than the one without filler metal.The maximum weld gap tolerance of the weld joint with filler metal increases to 0.7 mm.The strength of weld joint without heat treatment is 314.3 MPa which is 81.3% of base metal.Laser welding of aluminum is a favorable weld technology with the characteristics of high speed, fine weld appearance and wide weldability.