Effect of Active Flux on Aluminum 6061 and its Mechanical Properties by Gas Tungsten Arc Welding Process

The current research was carried out with the aim of increasing the penetration depth and improving the mechanical properties of weld region by addition of active fluxes of titanium oxide (TiO2) and silicon oxide (SiO2). Tungsten inert gas (TIG) welding is applied on Aluminum 6061 alloy and active fluxes including SiO2 and TiO2 with 2.5, 7.5, and 10 wt% were incorporated. Up to now, TIG welding on aluminum 6061 with SiO2 and TiO2 fluxes has not been carried out. Mechanical properties were determined using tensile and Vickers micro-hardness experiments. The results showed that the highest tensile strength corresponds to the base metal and in welded specimens was related to 10% TiO2 active flux. The ratio of tensile strength using titanium active flux and without flux mode is 90%. The use of both active titanium oxide and silicon oxide flux make the welded specimen granular and increases its strength. The effect of addition of titanium oxide is more noticeable than that of the silicon oxide flux since titanium oxide plays a key role on the granularity than the silicon oxide.