Optics & Laser Technology 91 (2017) 185–192

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Optics & Laser Technology

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/optlastec

Full length article

New technique of skin embedded wire double-sided laser beam welding MARK
⁎
Bing Han , Wang Tao, Yanbin Chen
State Key Laboratory of Advanced Welding and Joining, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150001, People's Republic of China

A R T I C L E I N F O A BS T RAC T

Keywords: In the aircraft industry, double-sided laser beam welding is an approved method for producing skin-stringer T-
Skin embedded wire double-sided laser beam joints on aircraft fuselage panels. As for the welding of new generation aluminum-lithium alloys, however, this
welding technique is limited because of high hot cracking susceptibility and strengthening elements’ uneven
Al-Li alloys distributions within weld. In the present study, a new technique of skin embedded wire double-sided laser
T-joint
beam welding (LBW) has been developed to fabricate T-joints consisting of 2.0 mm thick 2060-T8/2099-T83
Hot crack
aluminum-lithium alloys using eutectic alloy AA4047 filler wire. Necessary dimension parameters of the novel
Elements distribution
groove were reasonably designed for achieving crack-free welds. Comparisons were made between the new
technique welded T-joint and conventional T-joint mainly on microstructure, hot crack, elements distribution
features and mechanical properties within weld. Excellent crack-free microstructure, uniform distribution of
silicon and superior tensile properties within weld were found in the new skin embedded wire double-sided
LBW T-joints.

1. Introduction In the present work, a new technique of skin embedded wire

Aluminum-lithium alloys are characterized by their low density,
high strength and elastic modulus, excellent properties of anti-fatigue
crack growth and corrosion resistance, improved ductility and tough-
ness, and superb damage tolerance [1–3]. Since the first and second
generations of Al-Li alloys presented some other characteristics that
were found to be undesirable by aircraft manufacturers, with the
progress of technology however, the third generation Al-Li alloys have
received much attention for weight savings of aircrafts due to their
more outstanding comprehensive performance than previous models.
Among them, relatively new Al-Li alloys AA2060 and AA2099 are more
promising candidates for fuselage panels of jetliners [4–7].
In Airbus Germany, double-sided laser beam welding (LBW) of skin-
stringer T-joints in lower fuselage areas partly instead of using the
dominant riveting technique has led to a certain reduction of aircrafts’
weight. As already reported, T-joints composed of high strength Al alloys
like AA2xxx, AA6xxx and AA7xxx alloys have been welded successfully
without crack [8–11]. However, hot cracking sensitivity — one of Al-Li
alloys typical weldability problems has threatened double-sided LBW
further application greatly. What's worse, J. Enz et al. [12] found that, in
compare with the inhomogeneous distribution of Li within the weld, the
local loss of Si during welding caused hot cracking, whose influence on the
mechanical properties of welds was supposed to be greater. Furthermore,
it seemed difficult to improve elements’ uneven distributions effectively
only by changing the welding parameters.
double-sided LBW was introduced to solve recent problems of hot
cracking and elements’ inhomogeneous distributions. In order to
change the way of filling material reasonably, a special arc groove
was designed and machined on the skin panel so that the wire could be
filled into the skin before welding. With the combined function of
embedding wire within the skin before welding and double-sided filling
wires during welding, a crack-free T-joint with more uniform distribu-
tion and higher content of Si could be obtained.
2. Materials and experimental procedure
2.0 mm thick Al-Li 2060-T8 laminated panels (600 mm×150 mm)
and 2.0 mm thick Al-Li 2099-T83 extruded profiles (600 mm×28 mm)
were used for the skin and stringer components, respectively. These
wrought Al-Li alloys were especially developed for the aircraft industry
by Alcan Inc., in particular for the lower shell fuselage applications
[13]. The filler wire used was a commercially available eutectic alloy
AA4047 wire of 1.2 mm in diameter produced by Maxal Inc. Chemical
compositions of base metals (BMs) and filler wire are listed in Table 1.
The skin embedded wire double-sided LBW involves several steps:
pre-processing arc groove, embedding wire, and at last the double-
sided LBW. Firstly, in pre-processing arc groove step, to avoid the
generation of crack defect, an arc groove was accurately processed
according to the special dimensional design. Critical sizes of the groove
are illustrated in Fig. 1a. Secondly, in embedding wire step, AA4047

⁎
Corresponding author.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.optlastec.2016.12.023
Received 16 August 2016; Received in revised form 13 December 2016; Accepted 18 December 2016
0030-3992/ © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
B. Han et al. Optics & Laser Technology 91 (2017) 185–192

Table 1 Table 2
Chemical compositions of the base metals and filler wire (wt%). Welding parameters of the skin embedded wire double-sided LBW for T-joint.

Material Cu Si Li Zn Mg Mn Zr Ag Al Welding parameters Values

2060 3.9 0.02 0.8 0.32 0.7 0.29 0.1 0.34 Bal. Laser power (P) 3.2 kW
2099 2.52 – 1.87 1.19 0.497 0.309 0.082 – Bal. Welding velocity (Vw) 10 m/min
4047 < 0.01 11.52 – 0.001 0.01 0.01 – – Bal. Wire feeding rate (Vfw) 4.5 m/min
Incident beam angle (θ) 22°
Wire feeding angle (α) 22°
wire was embedded into the groove by a clamping roller, as shown in Wire feeding angle (β) 20°
Wire extension 8 mm
Fig. 1b. Lastly, in the double-sided LBW step, the stringer was erected
Focal position Specimen surface
on the embedded wire on the skin by a mechanical clamping device. As Shielding gas Argon
depicted in Fig. 1c, the two fiber laser beams should be focused Shielding gas flow rate 15 L/min
symmetrically onto two opposite positions along the stringer, respec-
tively. The filler wire and shielding gas were delivered on the same
plane as the laser beam and held at an angle of approximately 20° to
the stringer in the leading and trailing directions, respectively. The
adopted welding parameters are given in Table 2. In the last step, the
new designed skin-stringer T-joint with embedded AA4047 wire was
welded using two 6-axis industrial robots (KR-16W, KUKA Robot
Group, Germany) which were connected to two 10 kW fiber lasers
(YLS-10000, IPG Photonics Corp., Germany) and two wire feeders
(KD-4010, Fronius International GmbH, Austria), respectively. The
fiber lasers with an emission wavelength of 1.07 µm can deliver in
continuous wave (CW) mode. The laser beam passed through a
focusing mirror of 192 mm focus length and was finally focused as a
spot of 0.26 mm in diameter. For the purpose of comparison, conven-
tional double-sided LBW was additionally performed. The same
welding configuration and parameters were also adopted as for the
Fig. 2. Sketch map of the measuring points for the EDS analysis.
double-sided LBW without embedding wire.
After welding, welds’ outer appearance and inner metallographic
structure were detected by two optical microscopes (OLYMPUS SZX12
and OLYMPUS GX71). Selected welds were further analyzed by a apparatus, and finally the pore defect characteristics were all extracted
scanning electron microscope (SEM, HITACHI S-3400N) on unetched by the MATLAB software on computer.
microsections, and several positions within the weld zone were chosen
to measure their local element distributions by an energy-dispersive X- 3. Results and discussion
ray spectroscopy (EDS) fixed on SEM, as located in Fig. 2. Precipitation
phases’ compositions were investigated by an X-ray diffraction appa- 3.1. Macro- and microstructures of the welds
ratus (XRD, BRUKER D8 ADVANCE) and a differential scanning
calorimetry facility (DSC, NETZSCH STA 449 F3). Typical macroscopic appearance of the skin embedded wire double-
The local mechanical properties within the weld zone were tested at sided LBW T-joint is shown in Fig. 4. In contrast with the macrograph
a strain rate of 0.5 mm/min using an INSTRON-5569 universal testing of conventional double-sided LBW T-joint in Fig. 4b, most importantly,
machine. The 1.0 mm thick flat specimens according to ASTM E8/ no hot crack could be observed on the skin embedded wire double-
E8M-13a were extracted within the welds by an electrical-discharge sided LBW T-joint, and no tiny spatter mark was found which means a
machining and were parallel to the welding direction, as shown more more stable droplet transition during welding, as shown in Fig. 4a.
detailed in Fig. 3. Besides, some dark blocky deposits were observed on the weld of skin
Both of the skin embedded wire and conventional double-sided embedded wire double-sided LBW, and these deposits probably
LBW T-joints were tested by X-ray nondestructive testing with a range originated from the convergence of Si within the pool and coagulated
of 200 mm and an angle of 45° between the skin panel and X-ray path. mainly on the weld surface.
The X-ray negatives were transformed into digital images by scanning Cross-sections of the entire welds welded by the conventional and
skin embedded wire double-sided LBW are shown in Fig. 5, respec-

Fig. 1. Physical dimensions of the arc groove (a); embedded wire inside the groove (b) and used configuration for the skin embedded wire double-sided LBW of T-joints (c).

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B. Han et al.
Fig. 3. Schematic diagram of: the tensile specimens’ dimensions (a) and the sampling location (b).
tively. Apparently, tiny cavities still could be observed in the center of
the weld welded by the conventional double-sided LBW (Fig. 5b), and
these cavities could be the source of crack initiation or crack propaga-
tion path. By the skin embedded wire double-sided LBW, however, a
kind of denser weld without cavity, incomplete fusion or crack could be
obtained successfully (Fig. 5a).
Optical microstructures of the skin embedded wire double-sided
LBW T-joint are shown in Fig. 6. With appropriate fusion depth and
weld width, original groove and embedded wire could be entirely
covered and melted by pool, and no obvious crack, undercut or
incomplete fusion was formed along the border of original groove
(see Fig. 6a). Through the magnification, the weld microstructures
exhibited mainly dendritic structures and three areas in terms of grain
morphology occur, i.e. cellular dendrite zone (CDZ) located within the
weld center (see Fig. 6b), parallel dendrite zone (PDZ) (see Fig. 6c) and
nondendritic equiaxed zone (EQZ) along the fusion boundary (see
Fig. 6d). Fine equiaxed grains in the EQZ were believed to have formed
via a heterogeneous nucleation mechanism aided by Al3Zr and Al3(Li,
Zr) precipitates [14]. Main precipitation of T (AlLiSi) phases, which
show tetrahedron spatial structure, could be identified on the grain
boundaries within the weld zone. This kind of phase has a cubic crystal
structure, F-43 m, and a lattice parameter of 0.593 nm. Additionally,
adjacent to the fusion boundary in heat affected zone (HAZ), a band of
partially melted zone (PMZ) formed by planar crystallization and over-
aged zone (OZ) were shown in Fig. 6d. As a result of elements’ solid
solution, no obvious precipitation could be observed within the PMZ,
and this zone was proved to be the soften region of the T-joint. A kind
of elongated TB (Al7Cu4Li) phases were observed along the grain
boundaries within the OZ.
Comparative studies on precipitated phases within the weld of the
Fig. 4. Macrographs of: the skin embedded wire double-sided LBW T-joint (a) and conventional double-sided LBW T-joint without embedding wire (b).
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Optics & Laser Technology 91 (2017) 185–192
skin embedded wire and conventional double-sided LBW were per-
formed by XRD tests, as shown in Fig. 7. The XRD spectrums revealed
that the T phases, TB phases and tiny T2 phases were identified by the
appearance of their corresponding peaks in our conventional double-
sided LBW weld. With introduction of the embedding AA4047 wire,
however, intensities of all peaks referring to the T phase were enhanced
synchronously. Consequently, the proportion of T phase within the
weld welded by skin embedded wire double-sided LBW was increased.
In addition, intensities of the peaks referring to the TB or T2 phase were
all decreased. Consequently, promotion of the T phase and inhibition of
the TB and the T2 phase within the weld could be achieved by the skin
embedded wire double-sided LBW using AA4047 wire.
The total intensity of the T phase could be assumed to be the sum of
each relevant peak's intensity, that is:
IT = IT (111) + IT (220)+⋯+IT (511) (1)
where IT is the general intensity of the T phase within the weld.
Therefore, by Garvie-Nicholson equation [15], the volume fraction
of the T phase within the weld should be given by:
IT
fT = ⋅100%
IT + ITB + IT 2 + ISi + IAl (2)
where fT is the volume fraction of the T phase within the weld. Half
quantitatively, fT values within the welds obtained by the skin
embedded wire and conventional double-sided LBW were calculated
by above equations and compared with each other. As a consequence,
fT value within the weld increased drastically from 2.84% (conven-
tional double-sided LBW) to 6.57% (the skin embedded wire double-
sided LBW), which half quantitatively proved that the T phase could be
increased more than doubled through the skin embedded wire double-
B. Han et al. Optics & Laser Technology 91 (2017) 185–192

Fig. 5. Cross-sections of the welds welded by: the skin embedded wire double-sided LBW (a) and conventional double-sided LBW (b).

Fig. 6. Microstructures of the skin embedded wire double-sided LBW T-joint: cross-section of the entire weld (a); magnifications of the region I (b); the region II (c) and the region III
(d).

sided LBW.
The influence of the skin embedded wire double-sided LBW on
the T phase content could also be detected by the DSC curves. The
DSC thermograms of the conventional and skin embedded wire
double-sided LBW welds are plotted in Fig. 8, respectively. Four
endothermic peaks could be found on the blue solid line, sited at
80.6 °C (peak A), 288.5 °C (peak B), 621.6 °C (peak C) and 644.6 °C
(peak D). Recent results indicated that peak A was largely caused by
the dissolution of GP (Cu) zone, peak B corresponded to the
dissolution of the δ′ phase, peak C was due to the dissolution of
the T phase, and peak D was associated with the melting of weld
matrix. On the orange dotted line, however, peak C was dramatically
enhanced, which means the ratio of the T phase had been largely
increased within the weld by the skin embedded wire double-sided
LBW. In addition, as a result of peak C enlarging, peak D was
covered and disappeared totally.
3.2. Local element distributions of the welds
Comparison EDS tests on local element distributions between the

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B. Han et al. Optics & Laser Technology 91 (2017) 185–192

elements in the weld of conventional double-sided LBW.

Distributions of elements from the BMs like Cu, Zn and Mg were
corresponding to their differences of contents in the skin (AA2060) and
stringer (AA2099) materials, that is, Cu and Mg were more accumu-
lated near the lower fusion line whereas higher content of Zn was
measured near the upper fusion line. The content of Si, which was
entirely brought into the weld by AA4047 filler wire and played a
critical role on inhibition of cracks, also varied a lot under pool flow
field effect. Areas near the weld surface (position a in Fig. 2) and in the
center of the weld (positions b, c, e and f in Fig. 2) all showed a higher
Si-content in comparison to the upper part (position d in Fig. 2) and
lower part (positions g and h in Fig. 2) of the weld. Nonetheless, Si-
contents within all test positions were still lower than 2 wt%, and led to
a high hot cracking sensitivity. Lippold et al. [16] found that, to avoid
hot cracking of the weld effectively, a Si-content of at least 2 wt% was
needed. In the skin embedded wire double-sided LBW weld, however,
Fig. 7. X-ray diffraction spectrums of the skin embedded wire double-sided LBW T-joint
distributions of elements, particularly Si and Cu, had been changed and
in comparison to conventional double-sided LBW T-joint.
improved dramatically. Taking advantages of the groove and embedded
AA4047 wire, measured Si-contents showed an overall increase and all
test results exceeded 2 wt%. Especially in original groove region and
near the weld surface, Si-contents were all increased over 3 wt% and
consequently led to a much lower hot cracking sensitivity. In contrast
with the increase of Si, weld's other elements like Mg, Mn, Ag and
especially Cu all showed overall decreasing trends, and these phenom-
ena could be explained as the result of less skin material elements
melting into the pool during the skin embedded wire double-sided
LBW process. It is noteworthy that the decrease of skin's elements,
especially Cu, will also probably reduce intergranular low melting
eutectic and increase grain boundary melting point, so as to avoid hot
cracking to a certain extent.
Elemental distributions of Si within the welds of the skin embedded
wire and conventional double-sided LBW were conducted by EDS
mapping tests, as shown in Fig. 9. To corresponding with the above
EDS spot scan results, Si was mainly concentrated near the outer
surface and in the center of the weld welded by conventional double-
sided LBW, however, much lower contents of Si were detected
especially at the bottom of the weld, as shown in Fig. 9b. In the weld
Fig. 8. DSC thermograms of the skin embedded wire double-sided LBW T-joint in
of the skin embedded wire double-sided LBW, however, an overall
comparison to conventional double-sided LBW T-joint. increase of Si was realized in the whole weld zone, and lack of Si
especially at the bottom of the weld was improved very well, as shown
in Fig. 9a.
Table 3 Besides EDS tests, the theoretical average contents Cth, Si/Cu of Si
Contents of the alloying elements (wt%) at 8 positions within the skin embedded wire
(conventional) double-sided LBW weld (according to Fig. 2) measured by EDS (not
and Cu within the weld of the skin embedded wire double-sided LBW
determinable *). were also calculated by the use of Eq. (3), and this equation was
deduced from weld's geometrical considerations. In view of differences
Testing position Measured value for alloying element content between welding speed and filler wire feed rate, a sub-equation (4) was
complementally introduced:
Cu Si Zn Mg Mn Ag Al
Ask ⋅CSi / Cu, sk + Astr ⋅CSi / Cu, str + Apw ⋅CSi / Cu, pw + 2⋅Afw ⋅CSi / Cu, fw
a 1.50 3.88 0.73 0.13 0.15 * Bal. Cth, Si / Cu =
(2.88) (1.95) (0.64) (0.32) (0.18) (*) As
b 1.63 3.00 0.64 0.16 0.21 0.09 Bal. (3)
(2.96) (1.63) (0.57) (0.29) (0.23) (0.14)
c 1.77 2.97 0.81 0.16 0.17 0.08 Bal. Afw ⋅vfw π 2 vfw
(2.67) (1.80) (0.88) (0.29) (0.22) (0.24) Afw = = ⋅d fw⋅
vw 4 vw (4)
d 2.21 2.80 0.86 0.28 0.28 * Bal.
(2.89) (0.97) (1.07) (0.26) (0.36) (*) with: Cth, Si/Cu Average Si/Cu-content in weld [%].
e 1.65 2.49 0.62 0.29 0.11 0.05 Bal.
(2.75) (1.72) (0.46) (0.31) (0.21) (0.25)
CSi/Cu, sk Si/Cu-content of skin material [%].
f 1.63 2.97 0.82 0.22 0.19 0.11 Bal. CSi/Cu, str Si/Cu-content of stringer material [%].
(2.91) (1.56) (0.74) (0.30) (0.10) (0.22) CSi/Cu, pw Si/Cu-content of embedded wire [%].
g 1.59 3.01 0.43 0.24 0.07 0.18 Bal. CSi/Cu, fw Si/Cu-content of filler wire [%].
(3.03) (1.34) (0.75) (0.30) (0.15) (0.24)
Ask Cross-sectional area of melted skin in seam [m2].
h 1.76 3.73 0.34 0.23 0.20 0.14 Bal.
(3.80) (0.18) (0.62) (0.57) (0.22) (0.27) Astr Cross-sectional area of melted stringer in seam [m2].
Apw Cross-sectional area of embedded wire [m2].
Afw Cross-sectional area of filler wire [m2].
skin embedded wire and conventional double-sided LBW welds were As Cross-sectional area of seam [m2].
conducted at designated positions (see Fig. 2), as indicated in Table 3. vfw Speed of filler wire [m/s].
Apparently, there was an inhomogeneous distribution of alloying vw Welding speed [m/s].

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B. Han et al.
Fig. 9. Elemental distributions of Si within the weld zone: the skin embedded wire double-sided LBW (a) and conventional double-sided LBW (b).
dfw Diameter of filler wire [m].
Ideally, the calculated average content of Cu is 1.82 wt%, which is
approximately agreed with the test results in Table 3. However, for a
maximum Si-content of 3.88 wt% measured within the weld, a much
higher theoretical average value of 5.38 wt% was calculated. This
phenomenon also reveal that, different from Cu, a considerable loss
of Si was occurred during the skin embedded wire double-sided LBW.
With a lower boiling point of 2355 °C than Cu (2595 °C), Si was much
easier to be evaporated out especially from high-temperature areas on
the keyhole wall and molten pool surface. In addition, with a lower
density of 2.35 g/cm3 than Al-matrix (2.7 g/cm3), Si was more tend to
be floated up to the molten pool surface under buoyancy effect in
welding.
3.3. Local mechanical properties of the welds
Different from previous longitudinal tensile tests of the T-joint,
local tensile tests within the weld zone without BMs’ effect were
performed. Comparative results of local longitudinal tensile tests
between the skin embedded wire and conventional double-sided
LBW T-joints are shown in Figs. 10 and 11. Rapid propagation of
hot cracks could be identified after the maximum tensile strength on
the engineering stress-strain curve of conventional double-sided LBW
T-joint (as arrowed in Fig. 10). New cracks could be generated not only
on the tips of hot cracks but also on the boundaries of columnar crystal
Fig. 10. Engineering stress-strain curves during local longitudinal tensile testing of the
skin embedded wire double-sided LBW T-joint in comparison to conventional double-
sided LBW T-joint.
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Optics & Laser Technology 91 (2017) 185–192
near cracks, and original cracks could be connected with each other by
new cracks in this typical stage until the specimen's whole fracture. In
compare with the red curve above, however, no similar crack propaga-
tion stage was found on the blue curve of the skin embedded wire
double-sided LBW T-joint, which proved that a crack-free weld could
be obtained. In addition, a much higher tensile strength peak was
observed on the blue curve, which means a larger scale enhancement
on weld strength. In order to rule out the chance, five repetitions for
each condition were tested. Average values of ultimate tensile strength
(UTS), yield strength (YS) and percentage elongation (El) of the T-
joints are shown in Fig. 11, respectively. In compare with the average
UTS (89.4 MPa), YS (62.1 MPa) and El (2.1%) of conventional LBW T-
joints, an overall improvement of UTS (179.8 MPa), YS (70.0 MPa) and
El (4.8%) on the skin embedded wire double-sided LBW T-joint were
tested.
In order to study strengthening mechanism in the skin embedded
wire double-sided LBW process, SEM fractographic examinations on
local longitudinal tensile specimen of conventional double-sided LBW
T-joint were performed, as shown in Fig. 12. Typical fracture char-
acteristics of columnar dendrites with different orientations could be
observed in macroscopic fracture morphology (see Fig. 12a), indicating
that fracture was preferentially expanded on original hot cracks.
Typical intergranular cracking appearances could be observed in region
A and B. Grains were covered by liquid films of low melting eutectics,
indicating that hot cracks could initiated not only in boundaries of
parallel dendrite but also in boundaries of cellular dendrite (see
Fig. 11. Local longitudinal tensile properties within the weld zone of the skin embedded
wire double-sided LBW T-joint in comparison to conventional double-sided LBW T-joint.
B. Han et al.
Fig. 12. SEM images of the fracture during local longitudinal tensile testing of conventional double-sided LBW T-joint: macro morphology (a) and magnified views of marked regions A
and B (b)-(c).
Figs. 12b and 12c). On the other hand, abundant T phases and slight T2
phases could be observed on parallel dendrites (see Fig. 12b). As a
result of Si reduction, however, only a small quantity of T phases could
be observed on cellular dendrites (see Fig. 12c). In compare with the
fracture features of conventional double-sided LBW T-joint, obvious
dimpled morphology was detected on the fracture of skin embedded
wire double-sided LBW T-joint, indicating typical transgranular frac-
ture and extensive plastic deformation were generated before final
fracture (see Fig. 13a). As microfractograph of region C shown in
Fig. 13b, several secondary cracks and sporadic T2 phases were
distinguished on the bottom of dimples. Microfractograph of region
D, however, exhibited features associated with transgranular fracture
in dendrites and intergranular fracture along dendritic boundaries
(Fig. 13c). These two kinds of zones were randomly distributed on the
fracture surface, and T phases could only be found on grain boundaries.
As a result of the increase of Si content within the weld, more T phases
were formed on grain boundaries. The grain boundary continuity could
be broken by the inserted T phases, and because of T phase's high
hardness, to bypass T phase was the only way to make hot cracks
propagated along grain boundaries during welding. So, the grain
boundary strength was going to be improved more effectively by
increasing T phases. To sum up, by the skin embedded wire double-
sided LBW, fracture mechanism within the weld zone had been
converted from previous predominant intergranular fracture to more
ideal inter- and transgranular mixed-mode fracture.
3.4. Porosity defects
Porosity defects in two kinds of T-joints welded respectively by the
Fig. 13. SEM images of the fracture during local longitudinal tensile testing of the skin embedded wire double-sided LBW T-joint: macro morphology (a) and magnified views of marked
regions C and D (b)-(c).
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Optics & Laser Technology 91 (2017) 185–192
skin embedded wire double-sided LBW and conventional double-sided
LBW have been investigated by X-ray nondestructive testing (NDT)
technique, as shown in Fig. 14. In conventional double-sided LBW T-
joint, the pores’ number, minimum spacing and maximum diameter
were tested to be 12, 3.2 mm and 0.60 mm respectively in a range of
200 mm, as shown in Fig. 14b. In the skin embedded wire double-sided
LBW T-joint, the pores’ number, minimum spacing and maximum
diameter were tested to be 11, 3.4 mm and 0.60 mm respectively in a
same range, as shown in Fig. 14a. Apparently, no obvious negative
effect on porosity defects was shown during the skin embedded wire
double-sided LBW process.
4. Conclusion
(1) A new technique of skin embedded wire double-sided LBW had
been introduced to manufacture the T-joints consisting of 2060-
T8/2099-T83 Al-Li alloys by AA4047 filler wire. Several steps were
involved when using this technique: pre-processing arc groove,
embedding wire and double-sided LBW. By the combine of new
designed arc groove and matching optimized welding parameters,
excellent Al-Li alloys T-joints without crack could be obtained
ideally.
(2) In compare with conventional double-sided LBW T-joints, calcu-
lated volume fraction (fT) of main grain boundary precipitation T
(AlLiSi) phase was increased from previous 2.84% to present
6.57% within the typical weld welded by skin embedded wire
double-sided LBW. Furthermore, measured Si-contents within the
weld showed an overall increase from below 2 wt% to over 2 wt%,
and distribution of Si was more uniform. In contrast with a higher
B. Han et al. Optics & Laser Technology 91 (2017) 185–192

Fig. 14. Porosity defects within the T-joints welded by: the skin embedded wire double-sided LBW (a) and conventional double-sided LBW (b).

theoretical Si-content average value of 5.38 wt%, however, a
considerable loss of Si was occurred during the skin embedded [4]
wire double-sided LBW.
(3) In compare with conventional double-sided LBW weld, local [5]
mechanical properties within the weld welded by the skin em-
bedded wire double-sided LBW all showed apparent improve-
ments. In detail, average values of ultimate tensile strength, yield [6]
strength and percentage elongation were all improved from pre-
vious 89.4 MPa, 62.1 MPa and 2.1% to present 179.8 MPa, [7]
70.0 MPa and 4.8%, respectively. Features of inter- and transgra-
[8]
nular mixed-mode were identified on local tensile specimens of the
skin embedded wire double-sided LBW. No obvious negative
influence on porosity defects was found during the skin embedded [9]
wire double-sided LBW process.
[10]
Acknowledgments
[11]
The authors would like to thank National Engineering Research
Center of Commercial Aircraft Manufacturing for financial support of
this project.
[12]
References
[13]
[1] L.M. Karabin, G.H. Bray, R.J. Rioja, G. Venema, Al-Li-Cu-Mg-(Ag) products for
[14]
lower wing skin applications, in: Proceedings of the 13th International Conference
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