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Effect of weld geometry on fatigue performance of 6061-T6 aluminum GMAW: part 3. T-fillet joint

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Abstract

The effects of various weld geometries on the fatigue performance of T-fillet joint aluminum arc welding were investigated by conducting gas metal arc weld (GMAW) experiments using 6061-T6 material for various weld geometries. The results of the fatigue tests conducted using a 5-ton grade tester demonstrated that the fatigue performance of T-fillet joint aluminum arc welding is primarily affected by the area of the welded part and weld reinforcement. A large welded area can be obtained by full penetration, and a large weld reinforcement can be obtained by a large throat size and a small toe angle. Contrary to expectations, it was observed that optimal size and higher quantity of porosities can increase fatigue performance. This can be attributed to porosities behaving similarly to crack stop holes, which can prevent stress focusing. The deviation in fatigue performance in the case of minute penetration depth and minute throat size is not remarkable. Therefore, deeper penetration and larger weld reinforcement are crucial factors in obtaining higher fatigue performance in the industry.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) grant funded by the Korea government (MSIT) (No.2021R1A4A1033141) and (No.2021R1F1A1064238).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Mechanical Engineering, Chungbuk National University, Cheongju, 28644, Korea

    Sang Woo Han, Geonho Lee, Hansol Kim & Jungho Cho

  2. Light Metal Materials Development Team, Hyundai Motor Group, Hwaseong, 18280, Korea

    Min Soo Kim & Young Rae Jo

Authors
  1. Sang Woo Han
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  2. Geonho Lee
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  3. Hansol Kim
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  4. Min Soo Kim
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  5. Young Rae Jo
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  6. Jungho Cho
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jungho Cho.

Additional information

Jungho Cho received his Ph.D. at KAIST in 2007 and now he is a faculty of Chungbuk National University after working at Hyundai Motors and Ohio State University, USA for several years. His major is development of welding and joining techniques, welding physics and thermo-dynamical analysis of weld pool.

Sang-Woo Han is a visiting scholar of Research Institute of Industrial Science & Technology, Chungbuk National University, Cheongju, Korea. He received his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from KAIST. His research interests include arc welding, laser processing, and numerical simulation.

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Han, S.W., Lee, G., Kim, H. et al. Effect of weld geometry on fatigue performance of 6061-T6 aluminum GMAW: part 3. T-fillet joint. J Mech Sci Technol 36, 5215–5221 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12206-022-0934-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12206-022-0934-8

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