Effect of input current modes on intermetallic layer and mechanical property of aluminum–steel lap joint obtained by gas metal arc welding

This paper studies Al–steel lap joints resulted from direct-current pulsed gas metal arc welding (DPG) and alternate-current double-pulse gas metal arc welding (ADG). Base metals being welded are 1 mm thick 5052 Al alloy sheet and 1 mm thick galvanized mild steel sheet with filler metal being 1.2 mm 4047. Effect of the different welding processes on joint properties is studied through characterization of the steel/Al interphases and mechanical strength. It is found that the thickness of intermetallic compound layer composed of Fe2Al5, FeAl3and Fe3Al, and the diffusion of Fe element from steel to weld seam are dependent on the amount of welding heat input. Lap shear samples of Al–Fe joints resulted from the ADG process fractured at Al base metal or weld seam with average ultimate tensile strength (UTS) of 201 MPa. On the other hand, all lap shear samples of the joints resulted from DPG process fractured along the interphase between the Fe2Al5 sub-layer and the steel sheet with average UTS of 115 MPa. ADG process offers higher joint strength than that offered by DPG process due to thinner intermetallic compounds layer caused by the reduced heat input, illustrating that cyclic polarity switching and a secondary low frequency current pulse can effectively reduce the heat input in joining Fe–Al dissimilar materials, which means the ADG process is much more feasible for making robust Fe–Al lap joints.