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Development of novel Al-Si-Ce filler wires to enable high contrast in X-ray imaging of fusion welded aluminum alloy joints

The International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technology volume 126, pages 5527–5540 (2023)Cite this article

Abstract

One challenge in using X-ray imaging for post-process inspection of aluminum alloys fusion welded with conventional filler wires (e.g., 4xxx, 5xxx) is the negligible contrast between the fusion zone and base metal, which hinders measurement of important weld characteristics such as weld penetration. The current study outlines the development of novel filler wires that are based on commercial 4xxx (Al-Si) wires, but include additions of Ce to create grayscale contrast in X-ray imaging. Four custom Al-Si-Ce filler wires were fabricated by casting and extrusion, and were used for fusion welding of AA6061 plates. X-ray computed tomography of the lap joints with the Al-Si-Ce filler wires showed enhanced contrast between the fusion zone and the base metal enabling superior quantitative inspection. Microstructure analysis revealed that the increased X-ray contrast was due to Ce-containing precipitate particles within the fusion zone, which were identified to be τ1-Ce(AlxSi1-x)2 and τ4-Al2CeSi2. Hardness and other mechanical tests indicate a slight increase in mechanical properties with increasing Si and Ce content in the filler wire. It is concluded that the addition of relatively small amounts of Ce to conventional Al-Si filler wires is an effective method for creating the needed fusion zone contrast for measurement of weld penetration by X-ray imaging.

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Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank Wenchen Gu of Plastometrex for performing PIP measurements.

Funding

This research was supported by the Australian Research Council (Grant Number IC160100032) as part of the ARC Training Centre in Lightweight Automotive Structures, as well as a University Research Program project funded through Ford Motor Company. M. J. Benoit acknowledges the financial support of the Banting Postdoctoral Fellowship program, and M. J. Benoit and K. Heieis acknowledge the financial support of the NSERC Undergraduate Student Research Award Program.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Engineering, The University of British Columbia, 1137 Alumni Ave, Kelowna, BC, V1V 1V7, Canada

    Michael J. Benoit & Kevin Heieis

  2. Materials Engineering Department, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, CA, 93407, USA

    Joel Galos

  3. School of Engineering, RMIT University, GPO Box 2476, Melbourne, VIC, 3001, Australia

    Suming Zhu, Adrian P. Mouritz & Mark A. Easton

  4. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Michigan Technological University, 1400 Townsend Dr, Houghton, MI, 49931, USA

    Tom Wood & Paul G. Sanders

  5. Research and Innovation Center, Ford Motor Company, 2101 Village Rd, Dearborn, MI, 48124, USA

    Elizabeth T. Hetrick & Bita Ghaffari

Authors
  1. Michael J. Benoit
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  2. Joel Galos
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  3. Kevin Heieis
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  4. Suming Zhu
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Contributions

All authors have materially participated in the research and preparation of the article, and have approved the final article for submission. M. J. Benoit: conceptualization, methodology, writing — original draft, writing — review and editing, visualization, and supervision. J. Galos: investigation, visualization, writing — review and editing, and conceptualization. K. Heieis: investigation and writing — original draft. S. Zhu: investigation and writing — review and editing. T. Wood: investigation and resources. P.G. Sanders: resources, conceptualization, methodology, and writing — review and editing. E. T. Hetrick: writing — review and editing, project administration, and conceptualization. B. Ghaffari: writing — review and editing, project administration, and conceptualization. A.P. Mouritz: writing — review and editing, conceptualization, supervision, and funding acquisition. M. A. Easton: writing — review and editing, conceptualization, supervision, and funding acquisition.

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Correspondence to Michael J. Benoit.

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This work is dedicated to Adrian P. Mouritz, deceased on 4th March 2023.

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Cite this article

Benoit, M.J., Galos, J., Heieis, K. et al. Development of novel Al-Si-Ce filler wires to enable high contrast in X-ray imaging of fusion welded aluminum alloy joints. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 126, 5527–5540 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-023-11498-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-023-11498-8

Keywords

  • Fusion welding
  • Alloy design
  • X-ray tomography
  • Radiography
  • X-ray computed tomography (CT)
  • Non-destructive testing (NDT)
  • Non-destructive evaluation (NDE)

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