Investigation of fatigue strength and norms of emission of harmful substances in the air during MIG and TIG welding of 1460 aluminium-lithium alloy

Abstract

This work presents the results of studying harmful substances in the air, released in the case of tungsten inert gas (TIG) and metal inert gas (MIG) welding of 1460 aluminum alloy (Al-Cu-Li). It is shown that the TIG process is accompanied by smaller evolution of the solid component and gas component of welding fumes than in MIG welding. Ozone concentrations during TIG and MIG welding are significantly (1.3 and 7.4 times, respectively) higher than the maximum permissible concentration. It is found that ultraviolet radiation, accompanying the welding process, is the main factor of toxic gas generation in the working zone of the studied aluminum-lithium alloys. Also, this paper presents analyses of microstructure, hardness, strength characteristics and fatigue behavior of 1460 TIG weld joints.

Keywords

• aluminum alloy
• welding
• labour safety
• harmful substances
• welding aerosols
• microstructure
• strength
• fatigue behavior