Pulsed metall inert gas (MIG) welding and its effects on the microstructure and element distribution of an aluminum matrix reinforced with SiC composite material

Abstract

This study aims to demonstrate the effects of pulsed current on the welding pool and fusion zone microstructures of the aluminum 2014 alloy matrix composite material reinforced with 14 and 20 vol% SiC particles. A programmable synergic controlled MIG welding machine with pulsed power supply was used. One hundred Ampere and 120 Ampere pulsed current values were used to determine the effect of heat input on microstructures. A 1 mm diameter SG-AlSi5 wire was used as filler material. The microstructures were studied using a scanning electron microscope (SEM) with energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) spectroscopy, and the phase analyses were performed via X-ray diffraction analyzer (XRD). The study showed that increasing the SiC rate has a greater effect on the formation of Al4C3 phase than increasing the heat input values. Al4C3 formation was not formed as a needle-like structure. © 2017 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim