Mechanical and microstructural properties of 8090 AL-LI alloy welded joints

Abstract

The interest on the class of Al-Li alloys is related to the fact that Li content decreases the density and increases the Young modulus. These two features make the Al-Li alloys an attractive alternative to the other more usual conventional Al-alloys and composite materials. In this paper, microstructure and tensile properties of the 8090 Al-Li alloy, welded using a 5% Mg filler metal with a gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW) were studied. Experimental work included tensile tests, optical metallography and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) fractography on both welded and unwelded tensile specimens. The values of mechanical properties are compared with those of unwelded specimens.