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The microstructure, chemical composition, residual stress, and lattice parameter evolution of the welding zone (WZ) and heat-affected zone (HAZ) of a laser-beam-welded TiAl-based alloy were investigated. It was found that both α 2 and γ phases remain highly restrained in the WZ edge, and the stresses are relieved in the HAZ. A grain refinement mechanism is proposed, which works by heating the material to the β or α + β phase field for a short time. The lamellar colonies are refined by the Nb-enriched segregations.

An in situ highly time-resolved, high-energy X-ray diffraction investigation was carried out to observe the phase transformations of a TiAl alloy during laser beam welding. The diffraction patterns are recorded every 0.1 seconds by a fast area two-dimensional detector and plotted according to time, yielding the solidification pathway, the solid phase volume fraction, and the lattice parameter variation of different phases during the solidification and cooling process. Moreover, it is the first study that can demonstrate that the α phase without any Burgers orientation relationship, the so-called non-Burgers α, precipitates appear earlier than the Burgers α. The non-Burgers α grains are found to nucleate on the primary borides.

Heat-treatable Al-Zn alloys are promising candidates for use as structural lightweight materials in automotive and aircraft applications. This is mainly due to their high strength-to-density ratio in comparison to conventionally employed Al alloys. Laser beam welding is an efficient method for producing joints with high weld quality and has been established in the industry for many years. However, it is well known that aluminum alloys with a high Zn content or, more precisely, with a high (Zn + Mg + Cu) content are difficult to fusion weld due to the formation of porosity and hot cracks. The present study concerns the laser weldability of these hard-to-weld Al-Zn alloys. In order to improve weldability, it was first necessary to understand the reasons for weldability problems and to identify crucial influencing factors. Based on this knowledge, it was finally possible to develop an appropriate approach. For this purpose, vanadium was selected as additional filler material. Vanadium exhibits favorable thermophysical properties and, thereby, can improve the weldability of Al-Zn alloys. The effectiveness of the approach was verified by its application to several Al-Zn alloys with differing amounts of (Zn + Mg + Cu).

Laser welding of advanced Al-Li alloys has been developed to meet the increasing demand for light-weight and high-strength aerospace structures. However, welding of high-strength Al-Li alloys can be problematic due to the tendency for hot cracking. Finding suitable welding parameters and filler material for this combination currently requires extensive and costly trial and error experimentation. The present work describes a novel coupled model to predict hot crack susceptibility (HCS) in Al-Li welds. Such a model can be used to shortcut the weld development process. The coupled model combines finite element process simulation with a two-level HCS model. The finite element process model predicts thermal field data for the subsequent HCS hot cracking prediction. The model can be used to predict the influences of filler wire composition and welding parameters on HCS. The modeling results have been validated by comparing predictions with results from fully instrumented laser welds performed under a range of process parameters and analyzed using high-resolution X-ray tomography to identify weld defects. It is shown that the model is capable of accurately predicting the thermal field around the weld and the trend of HCS as a function of process parameters.