Weld Formation in Laser Hot-Wire Welding of 7075 Aluminum Alloy

The laser hot-wire welding process was adopted to weld 7075 high-strength aluminum alloy. The influence laws of parameters on the weld formation were analyzed during laser hot-wire welding, and the microstructure characteristics and mechanical properties of welds were analyzed. The results showed that the parameters whose significance of influence on weld formation as ranked from high to low were laser power, current, gap width, welding speed and wire feeding rate. With the increase of wire temperature, the weld formation quality became better initially and then worse. Under the condition of optimized parameters, good weld formation could be obtained. The weld zone had a fine grain microstructure, and was in casting state consisted of dendritic crystal and equiaxed crystal. The heat affected zone mainly consisted of columnar crystal. The microhardness decreased gradually from base metal to heat affected zone then to weld zone. The tensile fracture of weld specimen occurred at the weld zone, and was in the ductile fracture state. The tensile strength of weld joint was 206 MPa and was 64.2% of base metal strength.