PSI - Issue 33

Rizki Dwi Ardika et al. / Procedia Structural Integrity 33 (2021) 171–180 Author name / Structural Integrity Procedia 00 (2019) 000–000

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2. Aluminum welding 2.1. Gas metal arc welding

GMAW welding is one of the most commonly used welds because of its advantages, high productivity, relatively easy application, and low price (Ramaswamy et al., 2020). GMAW is a welding process that produces metal fusion based on metal fusion at high temperatures by forming a welding arc between the fill wire and the workpiece (Wang et al., 2020). The GMAW welding process occurs when the welding wire is directed to the workpiece. The welding arc will generate heat and melt the welding wire with the workpiece metal to melts together and forms a permanent joint. In that position, the shielding gas in the form of gas can protect the weld from the air outside to create a permanent connection. Lack of protection of the weld metal from outside air during the welding process can cause porosity. The process of the GMAW welding scheme can be seen in Fig. 1.

Fig. 1. Schematic of the GMAW process (Antonini, 2014) The welding parameters of GMAW consist of welding current, welding speed, arc stress, and gas flow rate, which can affect the strength of the weld and the mechanical properties of the weld joint (Ishak et al., 2015). The main problem in aluminum welding is decreased mechanical properties in the HAZ and microstructural changes that cause the loss of hardness in the HAZ of the aluminum alloy (Ambriz et al., 2009). 2.2. Gas tungsten arc welding GTAW welding is the most widely used in joining aluminum alloys because it is capable of producing high quality welding at low cost and easy application (Subbaiah et al., 2012). GTAW is a type of welding that is often used in ship construction welding. According to Li et al . (2017), GTAW is the most suitable welding technique for joining AA 5083 aluminum alloys compared to the GMAW process. GTAW welding has many advantages, including fast welding time, reduced use of filler cables, relatively low cost, and low distortion (Sathish et al., 2020) . The process of the GMAW welding scheme can be seen in Fig. 2.

Fig. 2. schematic of the GTAW process (Antonini, 2014)