Materials and Design 90 (2016) 777–786

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Materials and Design

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

Hybrid welding of AA5754 annealed alloy: Role of post weld heat

treatment on microstructure and mechanical properties
Paola Leo a,⁎, Sonia D'Ostuni a, Giuseppe Casalino b
a
Innovation Eng. Dept., University of Salento, Via per Arnesano s,n, 73100 Lecce, Italy
b
DMMM, Politecnico di Bari, Viale Japigia, 182, Bari, Italy

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: In this paper hybrid welding of the annealed AA5754 alloy was studied and the role of post weld heat treatment
Received 23 July 2015 (PWHT) on microstructure and mechanical properties was investigated. The microstructure and hardness of the
Received in revised form 27 October 2015 base material and welds were analyzed. Due to the segregation, the lowest microhardness value was observed at
Accepted 28 October 2015
the welding centerline. High microhardness was registered in a narrow zone at the interface between the fusion
Available online 29 October 2015
zone and the heat affected zone where the welding cycle promotes both the strengthening by Mg solid solution
Keywords:
and the lowest grain size. The hardness of the heat affected zone was higher than that of the base material due to
Hybrid welding dissolution of soluble particles (Mg2Si and Mg2Al3). PWHT at 350 °C increased the microhardness in the fusion
AA5754 zone and the tensile strength with respect to the untreated joint, whereas the strain at fracture was similar show-
Welding defects ing that the fracture was promoted mainly by the presence of porosity, coarse grain size and insoluble segregated
Microstructure second phases.
Hardness © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Post weld heat treatments

1. Introduction
AA5754 aluminum alloy shows good formability, high fatigue
strength and fair machinability. It is within the alloys of the 5xxx series
of higher strength. It is highly suited to flooring applications, shipbuild-
ing or chemical and nuclear structures. Automotive structural parts and
inner body panels are commonly made of 5xxx alloy. Kumar et al. inves-
tigated the solidification microstructure of AA5754 alloy with a high
level of impurities [1]. The dominant strengthening mechanisms are
work hardening and solute strengthening [2]. In fact for Al-Mg alloys
the hardening coming from second phase particles (aging heat treat-
ment) is very low in comparison with both solution and work harden-
ing [3,4]. In as cast state microstructure is dendritic with a strong
microsegregation development and several particles such as Mg2Si
and iron-bearing intermetallic (Fe, Mn) Al6 [1]. Homogenization treat-
ment leads to dissolution of soluble particles like Mg2Si and so increases
the hardness by solid solution strengthening [1,5,6].
When 5000 series alloys in the work-hardened condition are joined
by autogenous welding, the strength and hardness of the joint are sim-
ilar to those of the alloy in the annealed condition [3]. The loss of
strength/hardness is due to the solidification microstructure of the
fusion zone and to the annealing of the zone adjacent to the fusion
line defined heat affected zone (HAZ). The welding thermal cycle does
not affect the zone far from the fusion line (base material). The hardness
⁎ Corresponding author.
E-mail address: paola.leo@unisalento.it (P. Leo).
lowers from base material towards the joint fusion zone. Because usual-
ly Al–Mg alloys are joined in work hardening condition [4], the loss of
hardness is offset by selecting an alloy that has good strength in the
annealed condition. Moreover, PWHT is not applied to Al–Mg joints
welded in work-hardening condition in order to avoid recovery of the
base material microstructure and its subsequent drop of strength.
For Al–Cu–Mg, Al–Mg–Si, Al–Mg–Zn–Cu alloys, which strongly
harden by aging (or second phase particles), some heat treatments are
performed after welding even if those alloys have been joined in the
work hardened condition [4,7,8,9,10,11]. In this case, the loss of hard-
ness due to the recovery of the work hardened microstructure promot-
ed by the heat treatment is balanced or even overcame by the strong
rise of hardness induced by the second phase particles [7].
Generally with conventional autogenous welding both thermal dis-
tortions and residual stresses limit the quality of welds. Innovative
welding methods are available for extending the range of applications
and improving the overall performance of AA5754. Liu discussed the ef-
fect of double pulsed gas metal arc welding (DP-GMAW) on metal drop-
let transfer, weld pool profile, weld bead geometry and weld joint
mechanical properties of Al alloy AA5754 [12]. The results indicate
that the metal transfer, weld pool profile and weld bead geometry in
DP-GMAW significantly differs from P-GMAW. In particular, the grain
size of the weld bead decreases with increasing of thermal pulse fre-
quency and the eutectic Mg2Si precipitates are distributed homoge-
neously in the fusion zone. Senkara and Zhang studied the crack
behavior of AA5754 HAZ during resistance spot welding [13]. Another
joining method that has been studied for this alloy is the friction stir

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.matdes.2015.10.150
0264-1275/© 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
778 P. Leo et al. / Materials and Design 90 (2016) 777–786
spot welding. After T.S. Mahmoud and T.A. Khalifa [14], the tool rota-
tional speed and stir (dwell) time affect the weld structure and static
strength of welds.
Hybrid laser arc welding (HLAW) recently has established itself as a
leading welding process. It combines conventional arc welding and laser
beam welding. The coupled heat sources interact at the same time on a
single weld pool having a synergistic effect. Due to the actions of laser
beam and welding arc, hybrid welding offers many advantages over
laser welding and arc welding stand alone, such as high welding
speed, deep penetration, excellent gap bridging ability as well as good
process stability and efficiency [15,16,17,18]. The laser-to-arc power
ratio (R) plays a significant role in the hybrid welding process. The
ratio determines which between the laser and the arc has the greater in-
fluence on the weld pool formation. The role of R-value on joint geom-
etry and solidification rate has been investigated in different studies [19,
20,21]. Particularly, the joint solidification rate increases with R leading
to a finer welded microstructure [19].
There are not many studies on hybrid laser arc welding of Al–Mg
alloys. Yan and others investigated the microstructure, mechanical
properties and fatigue strengths of AA5083-H111 [19]. They observed
an uncommon softening in the HAZ and a loss of microhardness in the
fusion zone owing to the Mg burning during welding. Leo et al. studied
the HLAW of annealed AA5754 [21]. Porosity and cracks were observed
in the fusion zone. Casalino et al. realized a comparison between laser
and arc leading configuration [22]. In recent years promising disk and
fiber active medium laser system have been developed. They simulta-
neously offer high optical output powers, high conversion efficiencies,
high beam qualities and a short emission wavelength around 1 μm.
Particularly the process parameters were optimized to obtain a joint
without defects with good mechanical properties [23].
This paper presents the effect of the post weld heat treatment of
AA5754, which was welded in annealing condition by fiber laser arc
hybrid welding (FLAHW). In the present study, the hardness profile in
the HAZ was not known and, moreover, the base material hardness
was not expected to drop due to PWHT [3]. So, the role of the PWHT
on mechanical properties was evaluated by microhardness, tensile
test, and fracture surface analysis.
2. Experimental setup
AA5754 (rolled sheet) alloy 3 mm thick was supplied in annealed con-
dition. Table 1 reports the chemical composition of the alloy (weight %).
The heat source was a fiber laser Ytterbium Laser System (IPG YLS-
4000) with a maximum available power output of 4 kW, coupled with
an MIG generator (GENESIS 503 PSR). The laser source was fiber deliv-
ered. Particularly fiber diameter, beam parameter product (BPP), wave-
length, focal distance and spot diameter are reported in Table 2.
The torch tilting angle was 40° and the laser beam was focused per-
pendicularly on the surface of the sheet. The experiment configuration
was laser leading, which means that the laser beam is the primary
heat source while the arc is the assisting heat source providing filler
material. Being a combined process, the shape of the weld depends on
several factors, especially on the power of the heat sources. The distance
between the two sources was equal to 2.5 mm, the shielding gas
adopted was Argon, owing to the stable ignition of the arc in that
environment.
The filler material was ER 5356 and its chemical composition is in
Table 3.
Four joints with different laser power (PL) and arc power (PMIG) and
with a constant welding speed (3.5 m/min) were processed. Two levels
Table 1
Chemical composition of the AA5754 (wt.%).
Si Fe Cu Mn Mg Cr Zn Ti
0.40 0.40 0.10 0.50 2.6–3.6 0.3 0.20 b0.15
Table 2
Laser parameters.
Diameter fiber BPP Wavelength Focal distance Spot diameter
[μm] [mm] [nm] [mm] [mm]
200 6.3 1070.6 250 0.4
of PL and three of PMIG were used according to the experimental plan
shown in Table 4.
The microstructure of the cross weld section was analyzed with
Nikon Epiphot 200 Optical Microscope (OM) and Zeiss EVO scanning
electron microscope (SEM), equipped with a Bruker energy-dispersive
X-ray spectrometer (EDS). The samples were prepared by standard
metallographic procedure, which involved etching with Keller's reagent
or NaOH solution. The grain structure was revealed by electro-polishing
(20% perchloric acid and 80% ethanol at 0 °C, electro-polishing parame-
ter: 15 V and 60 s), anodic oxidation (Barker etching, anodizing param-
eters: 20 V and 80 s) and subsequent investigation under polarized light
in OM.
The dimension of the fusion zone (FZ) and HAZ were evaluated
using NIS software for imaging analysis. NIS-Elements is a NIKON soft-
ware supplied with Epiphot 200 OM. The software is tailored to facili-
tate image capture, object measurement and counting.
In order to study the particle distribution in the HAZ, 3 zones 300 μm
each thick were collected by tiling of macrographs (100×). The particle
area was evaluated using NIS software for imaging analysis. Percentage
particles area for each zone (particle total area divided by the area of the
singular zone) was determined.
Three different post weld heat treatments (at 350 °C) were per-
formed on the s2 sample (20 × 5 × 3mm) using a salt bath.
The holding times and temperatures are summarized in Table 5.
Sample s2 was selected because it exhibited the best hardness profiles.
Moreover, the BM was heat treated for 20 s at 550 °C and then air
cooled. Particularly the heating time segment was 20 s. The size of the
sample was 5 × 3 × 10mm.
Vickers microhardness (0.5/15 s) was measured using a LEICA
VMHT at a fixed distance (equal to 1 mm) from the top and the bottom
surface of the weld cross section. The number of indentations at a fixed
distance from top/bottom surface was equal to 17. Distance between in-
dentations was 500 μm. This test was carried out both for all the joints as
welded and for the T350 heat treated joint.
Tensile strength test was conducted on the s2 T350_50 rectangular
specimens (20 × 5 × 3mm) taken across the weld seam. A universal
electromechanical tensile test machine (INSTRON 5959) equipped
with pneumatic grips was used. The mechanical properties and the frac-
ture surface of the s2 joint were compared with those of the BM and
with the untreated joint.
3. Base material characterization
The investigated Al–Mg alloy was supplied in annealed and recrys-
tallized state. The OM micrograph (Fig. 1) shows the aluminum matrix
(solid solution phase) together with a series of intermetallic precipi-
tates. Based on previous work [1,24,25], it can be concluded that the
acicular shape light gray particles are (Fe, Mn) Al6 (Fig. 1a,b), while
the rounded shape dark gray particles are the very fragile
(Fe,Mn)3SiAl12 (Fig. 1a,b). The last ones can exhibit some cracks due
to fracture during the machining of rolling. The greater black particles
are Mg2Si (Fig. 1a,b) while the smaller ones are Mg2Al3 [24,25]. After
Table 3
Chemical composition of the ER5356 (wt.%).
Al Si Fe Cu Mn Mg Cr Zn Ti Al
Bal. 0.25 0.40 0.05 0.1–0.2 4.5–5.5 0.1–0.2 0.10 0.15 bal.
 P. Leo et al. / Materials and Design 90 (2016) 777–786 779

annealing the Mg2Si particles can nucleate also on the particles contain- Table 4
ing iron (Fig. 1c), in agreement with [26]. Experimental plan.

The element mapping (Fig. 2a) of the BM (Fig. 2b) confirmed the Sample PL MIG MIG PMIG Filler wire speed PTOT R
presence of Mg and Si in the dark particles and the presence of iron in [W] voltage current int. [W] [mm/min] [W] (PL/PMIG)
the white ones. Magnesium distribution was uniform in the solid [V] [A]

solution. s1 3000 28 140 3920 12.2 6920 0.77

The BM microstructure (Fig. 3) exhibited equiaxed recrystallized s2 3000 26.5 128 3392 11.4 6392 0.88
s3 3500 28 140 3920 12.2 7420 0.89
grains induced by the annealing heat treatment. The recrystallized
s4 3500 26.5 128 3392 11.4 6892 1.03
grains are clearly observable in Fig. 3 after metallographic anodizing of
the sample. The average diameter of the BM grains in the cross weld
section was 20 ± 3 μm. The microhardness value was 60 ± 1 HV, the occurrence of black particles (Mg2Si and/or Mg2Al3) was strongly re-
ultimate tensile strength was 244.3 N/mm2 and the elongation 16.7%. duced in the HAZ.
Within the HAZ and BM, the distribution (Fig. 9a) and the area of
particles (Fig. 9b) having equivalent diameter equal to or higher than
4. Results 2 μm was measured in the cross section of s2. The investigated area
was divided into three zones 300 μm thick (Fig. 9a). Zone 1 and the
4.1. Weld shape and microstructure zone 2 pertained to the HAZ; zone 3 was the BM. Zone 1 was the closest
to the melting zone. The analysis of the particles distribution in the HAZ
The weld geometry depends on the process parameters. All the joint (Fig. 9a) shows that the number of particles decreased moving from BM
cross sections presented the classic “wine-cup” shape with an upper to FZ. The total area of particles was calculated in each zone using NIS
zone denoted as “Crown Zone” (CZ), and a narrow lower Laser Zone software and divided by the area of the singular zone (Fig. 9b). Reduc-
(LZ) [27] (Fig. 4a). The two zones presented different aspect and mor- tion of particle area obtained in zones 1 and 2 was 50% higher with
phology due to the influence of the two heat source powers respect to that in zone 3, which indicates that the welding thermal
(Fig. 4b,c). The LZ shape was controlled by the laser beam and the CZ cycle leads to particle dissolution (Fig. 9b).
shape by the MIG torch [20,27]. The size of the FZ changed mainly
with PMIG (Fig. 4b). As PMIG increased at fixed PL the molten pool size in-
4.2. Mechanical properties and PWHT
creased because the base material melting was under the electric arc
control (Fig. 4b,c). By contrast, at constant PMIG, the FZ area decreased
Microhardness was measured along the weld cross section both site
when PL rose (Fig. 4b,c) due to the improved arc stability, which was
at 1 mm from the top (CZ) and from the bottom (LZ). Fig. 10 shows
enhanced by the higher power laser [28].
microhardness for the two sites. The profiles exhibit symmetrical trends
The FZ exhibited a dendritic type microstructure (Fig. 5a). After me-
(Fig. 10) with respect to the welding centerline. The highest microhard-
tallographic anodizing, columnar grains were identified. Starting from
ness values for each profile were observed at the FGZ. The hardness
the HAZ interface the columnar grains grew towards the inner of the
gradually decreased from the FGZ to welding centerline and from FGZ
FZ (Fig. 5b). Moreover, a transition columnar to coarse equiaxed grains
to the BM. The last result indicates that the welding thermal cycle led
close to the welding centerline was observed (Fig. 5b). The equiaxed
to hardness increase in HAZ with respect to BM. The main difference
grains occupied an area that was much smaller in the LZ than in the
between all the analyzed profiles was in the welding centerline
CZ (Fig. 6). The average size of equiaxed grains was significantly greater
hardness value.
than that of the base material (Fig. 5b). In addition, there was a small
For each microhardness profile the lowest value was obtained in the
band of fine grains, called “Fine Grain Zone” (FGZ), at the interface be-
LZ centerline and it was lower than the BM hardness.
tween the fusion zone and the HAZ (Fig. 5d). The band average size
Particularly s4 and s2 samples presented the highest microhardness
was 85 ± 5 μm. The HAZ extended between the FGZ and BM and its
at the welding centerline both in LZ and in CZ. The lowest value was
size was lower than 600 μm. After metallographic etching with NaOH
measured for the s1 sample. Considering both CZ and LZ hardness, the
solution, another narrow area close to the FGZ (in the HAZ) character-
welding parameters used for processing the s2 joint were better. There-
ized by average grain size larger than that of the base material (28 ±
fore, the s2 joint was subjected to the PWHT in order to improve its
3 μm Vs 20 ± 3 μm) was identified. The slight grain coarsening with re-
mechanical properties.
spect to BM was probably due to the welding thermal cycle (Fig. 5d).
The hardness profiles after T350 heat treatments on s2 joint show
The FZ microstructure was affected by porosity that was probably
that the hardness values in the FZ greatly increased both in CZ
due to Mg vaporization together with evident solute segregation at
(Fig. 11a) and in LZ (Fig. 11b). The minimum hardness at the welding
interdendritic site (black color in Fig. 5a) and second phase segregation
centerline disappeared after 50 min holding time (Fig. 11 c,d) and the
(Fig. 5c) mostly close to the welding centerline. Second phase segrega-
FZ hardness was higher than that of BM (Fig. 11d).
tion was mainly insoluble white phases containing iron and black solu-
The values of the yield stress (σy), ultimate tensile strength (UTS)
ble Mg2Si phases in Chinese-script shape (Fig. 5c) [1,29,30,31].
and strain at fracture (elongation ef) for BM and specimen s2 both in un-
Some solidification cracks, which run along the edges of the colum-
treated and treated T350_50 state are reported in Table 6. The stress strain
nar grains, were observed in the LZ (Fig. 6).
curves are shown in Fig. 12. The yield stress (σy) and UTS of the heat
Due to the high temperature (T), the HAZ underwent a severe
treated T350_50 sample were higher with respect to the untreated one,
welding thermal cycle [4], which altered the microstructure in terms
whereas the strain at fracture was similar. The highest σy and elonga-
of grain size and particles. Particularly, the highest T was reached near
tion were observed in BM.
the fusion line. The macrograph in Fig. 7 clearly shows how the HAZ dif-
fered from the BM. The microstructure of the heat treated T550_20 BM
was analyzed by scanning electron microscope. Fig. 8 compares the
Table 5
back scattered electron (BSE) micrographs of the untreated BM, the PWHT on s2 sample.
T550_20 BM and the HAZ. These images show that both the heat treated
Temperature Holding time Cooling
BM (Fig. 8b) and the HAZ (Fig. 8c) had cleaner matrices with respect
to the untreated BM (Fig. 8a). The heat treatment T550_20 BM argued T350_5 350 °C 5 min Air cooling
that the soluble smaller particles were able to dissolve at high T T350_20 350 °C 20 min Air cooling
T350_50 350 °C 50 min Air cooling
even if the alloy was heated for a short holding time. Particularly the
780 P. Leo et al. / Materials and Design 90 (2016) 777–786

Fig. 1. (a, c) OM and (b) SEM image of AA5754 BM. Light gray acicular shape particles (Fe,Mn)Al6, rounded shape dark gray particles (Fe,Mn)3SiAl12, black particles Mg2Si. (c) Noteworthy
is the presence of fine Mg2Si particles (arrow) that, following treatment of annealing, grew on particles containing iron [26].

Fig. 13 shows the microscopic appearance of the fracture surface for
the treated and untreated joints. Both the specimens cracked in the FZ.
Particularly fracture arose from the bottom side and propagated
throughout the entire section mainly along the welding centerline. Frac-
ture surfaces were rough and characterized by both small and large
dimples. Fracture was principally ductile although the moderate elon-
gation for both samples. No evident differences between the two frac-
ture surfaces were observed. Indeed the tensile test results (Table 6)
indicated that both the samples present similar elongation showing
that probably the fracture was promoted mainly by the presence of
porosity, coarse grain size and insoluble segregated second phases.
5. Discussion
As received the Al–Mg microstructure exhibited equiaxed recrystal-
lized grains as a result of the annealing heat treatment (Fig. 3). The
average diameter of BM grain in the cross weld section was 20 ±
3 μm. The microhardness value is 60 ± 1 HV. Magnesium was distribut-
ed inside the aluminum matrix (solid solution) (Fig. 2). Moreover Mg
atoms form intermetallic particles both soluble and insoluble with
other alloying elements (Figs. 1,2).
The HAZ lay between the BM and the FZ. The HAZ began where the
peak temperature of the welding cycle was just below the solidus
temperature [4]. The HAZ was due to a real heat treatment of the BM,
the intensity of which varied with the distance from the molten zone.
The heat treatment imposed a steep thermal gradient (from T close to
melting point to room temperature) in a very short time. Due to high
temperature in the welding cycle, small Mg particles (both Mg2Al3
and Mg2Si) were able to dissolve, which led to atomic diffusion in the
solid state. Moreover, due to the fast cooling rate, probably the solute
atoms remained trapped in Al matrix without precipitating particles
as shown by [5,6]. Indeed the OM observation of the HAZ (Fig. 7)
showed a matrix much cleaner than that of the BM. The subsequent
SEM observation of the heat treated BM at 550 °C-20 s and air cooled
(Fig. 8b) showed that, due to heat treatment, Mg particles were reduced
so Mg atoms diffused in the aluminum matrix (in solid solution). More-
over, the percentage total area of particles in HAZ decreased gradually
moving from BM to FZ interface showing the dissolution of the Mg par-
ticles (Fig. 9) and confirming the previous results (Fig. 7). Due to the
dissolution of Mg particles, a solid solution strengthening occurred in
the HAZ leading to an increasing of hardness with respect to the BM
(Fig. 10).
Joint microstructure, affected by both undercooling and flow turbu-
lence [32,33], originated from the BM interface and developed towards
the welding centerline. The FGZ (Fig. 5d) area was due to the strong
thermal undercooling. In that zone the melted metal undergoes a con-
siderable amount of heat followed by a fast cooling and the new grains
had an average size smaller than that of the BM. Close to the FGZ, in the

Fig. 2. (a) Alloy elements mapping of (b) BM. The analysis confirms the chemical composition of the particles and the presence of Mg in solid solution, typical for the alloys AA5xxx.
 P. Leo et al. / Materials and Design 90 (2016) 777–786
Fig. 3. Polarized light micrograph of the BM showing equiaxed recrystallized grains.
HAZ, the grains had a greater average size with respect to that of the BM
(Fig. 5d). Grains coarsened due to the welding thermal cycle.
The FZ exhibited a dendritic microstructure (Fig. 5a) and presented
both columnar and equiaxed grain zone (Fig. 5b). The area of columnar
Fig. 4. (a) OM macrograph of the join shape (Keller etching). The classic shape “wine cup” is evident due to the CZ shape and the narrower LZ. (b) Joints fusion zones size at PL equal to
3000 W (red line) and 3500 W (black line) as a function of PMIG. (c) Joints FZ and HAZ elaborated by NIS software. (For interpretation of the references to color in this figure legend, the
reader is referred to the web version of this article.)
781
grains originated at the fusion edge by the growth of some crystals
of the FGZ oriented in the direction opposite to the heat flux (perpendic-
ular to the interface). The columnar growth was favored by steep T gra-
dients. LZ was characterized by a steeper T gradient with respect to the
CZ. Therefore the LZ microstructure was prevalently columnar with re-
spect to the CZ and the LZ solidification rate was higher. On the contrary
in the CZ the shallow thermal gradient promoted the transition from co-
lumnar to equiaxed growth [4,32,34].
Solidification cracks ran along the edges of the columnar grains in
LZ (Fig. 6). They formed in the interdendritic or intergranular spaces
that, in the columnar microstructure have a direction orthogonal to
that of the application of thermal stress [33]. Otherwise, equiaxed
dendritic microstructures were characterized by either intergranular
or interdendritic space oriented in many directions, which created
long and tortuous energy-consuming paths [4].
The power ratio (R) indicated whether the laser or the arc power
was dominant during the welding process, respectively R N 1 and
R b 1. Particularly, at a given total power, the joint solidification rate in-
creased with R leading to a finer welded microstructure [19].
The hardness profiles in Fig. 10 differed from one another mainly in
the centerline hardness values where the effect of different solidifica-
tion rates on the microstructure was more significant [32]. The hardness
profiles in Fig. 10a indicate that in the CZ the hardness value along
welding centerline strongly increased (compare s1 and s4) when, at
very close PTOT (Table 4), the R-value increased from the lowest value
(R1) to the highest one (R4), due to finer microstructure promoted by
782 P. Leo et al. / Materials and Design 90 (2016) 777–786

Fig. 5. (a) OM micrograph of the FZ (Keller etching) showing dense dendritic microstructure and interdendritic solute segregation. (b) OM micrograph of anodized sample showing transition
from columnar to coarse equiaxed grains close to welding centerline. (c) SEM micrograph of the FZ centerline with evident second phase segregation. (d) OM micrograph (NaOH etching) with
indication of the thickness of both the FGZ and the zone close to FGZ that is characterized by increased grain size with respect to BM. The average grain size in each area is also indicated.

the faster solidification rate. When the R-value changes from R1 to R4, solidification rate in the s4 sample (R4). Centerline hardness values
hardness increased in the LZ less than in the CZ and it could be explained for s2 and s3 samples were in between those of s1 and s4 (Fig. 10a)
by the effect of some LZ solidification cracks induced by the higher where R2 and R3 values were in between those of R1 and R4. In fact

Fig. 6. OM micrograph of the LZ showing pores and cracks in s4. Fig. 7. OM macrograph of the HAZ.
 P. Leo et al. / Materials and Design 90 (2016) 777–786 783

Fig. 8. BSE image sequence of the (a) untreated BM, (b) heat treated T550_20 BM, (c) HAZ. Both treated T550_20 BM and HAZ matrix are cleaner than the untreated BM where dark gray
particles are evident.

Fig. 9. Distribution (a) and percentage particle area (b) in the HAZ. The particle number decreases from BM to FZ. Particularly a big reduction of particle percentage and particle area was
obtained in zones 1 and 2 with respect to zone 3 indicating that the welding thermal cycle leads to particle dissolution.

both the s1/s3 and s2/s4 couples were processed at fixed PMIG (Table 6,
Fig. 4b,c) and with PL that rose from s1 to s3 and from s2 to s4 leading to
higher R-values in s3 with respect to s1 and s4 respect to s2. So, as PL in-
creased at fixed PMIG (from s1 to s3 and from s2 to s4) both the steeper
gradient and the reduction of molten pool size [28], which were pro-
moted by the increasing of R values (Fig. 4b,c), lead to faster solidifica-
tion rate and a finer microstructure. Hence, the centerline hardness
values of s3 (s4) sample were higher than those of s1 (s2) ones (Fig. 10).
In order to explain the characteristic shape of the FZ microhardness
profiles, the role of solute and second phase segregation must be consid-
ered. In fact due to non-equilibrium solidification, some segregation
was observed in the welds (Fig. 5a,c) and it is well known that Mg
segregation reduces the hardness of Al–Mg alloys [27]. Particularly,
the amount of segregation was maximum along the welding axis due
to the solute growth in the last consolidated liquid [35,36,37]. Moreover,
segregation happened less close to the interface. Therefore, as the segre-
gation level lowered, FZ hardness values increased from the weld
centerline to the HAZ interface (Fig. 10), which justifies the characteris-
tic shape of the profile. Moreover, the microstructure predominantly
columnar in LZ induced greater segregation near the axis because the
columnar grains facilitated the solute rejection towards the welding
centerline. By contrast, the equiaxed dendrites in the CZ, rejected the

Fig. 10. Cross weld section microhardness profile in the CZ at 1 mm from the top surface (a) and LZ at 1 mm from the bottom surface (b). The profiles exhibit symmetrical trends with
respect to the welding centerline.
784 P. Leo et al. / Materials and Design 90 (2016) 777–786

Fig. 11. Cross weld section microhardness profiles in the (a) CZ and (b) LZ of as welded and heat treated s2 samples for different holding times at 350 °C showing that the fusion zone
hardness increases with holding time at 350 °C. The CZ and LZ microhardness profiles in untreated (c) and treated T350_50 state (d) are compared.

solute in different growth directions and the solute rejection towards The CZ and LZ hardness profiles for s2 resulted the best and therefore
the centerline was reduced. Consequently, the hardness of all the joints underwent the post weld heat treatment, which aimed to improve
at the LZ welding centerline was always lower with respect to the CZ. hardness by reducing segregation [32,4].
 P. Leo et al. / Materials and Design 90 (2016) 777–786
Table 6
Tensile test for the BM, the untreated and heat treated T350_50 joint.
UTS [N/mm2] σy [N/mm2]
Untreated joint 201.4 70
T350_50 joint 239 89
BM 244.3 117
Fig. 12. Tensile stress–strain curves
The role of segregation on hardness response of the FZ was con-
firmed by analyzing the hardness profile of the s2 joint, heat treated at
350 °C (Fig. 11a,b) for 5, 20 and 50 min and then air cooled. Hardness
values in FZ greatly increased both in the CZ (Fig. 11a) and in the LZ
(Fig. 11b), particularly after 50 min holding time. Moreover, comparing
CZ and LZ profiles of the untreated s2 joint (Fig. 11c) with the 50 min
treated ones (Fig. 11d), it can be observed that the minimum hardness
values at the welding centerline disappeared with the heat treatment.
The explanation is that elimination of segregation led to a rise in the
amount of Mg atoms inside the aluminum matrix and hardening by
Magnesium solid solution strengthening [2,38]. Mg atoms available for
solid solution strengthening were more numerous in the FZ than in
the BM due to the filler material addition. Therefore, the reduction of
segregation induced a relevant hardening.
Yield strength and tensile strength of the T350_50 heat treated joint
were greater with respect to the as welded joint. Several other papers
Fig. 13. Fracture surface of the (a) untreated joint and (b) heat treated T350_50 joint.
785
[39,40] have shown that σy and UTS for Al–Mg alloys increase with
Mg content in solid solution. The highest σy observed in the BM
ef [%] could be probably due to the smaller grain size with respect to that
11.1
observed in the fusion zone of welded samples (Figs. 3,4b) according
8.1 to the Hall–Petch relation [40]. Despite the welds' being character-
16.7 ized by different strength values, they exhibited very similar elonga-
tion and fracture without necking evidence. Particularly it is
interesting to observe that the joints exhibited a great loss of ductil-
ity respect to the BM. The loss of ductility with respect to BM was due
to porosity, coarse grain size and insoluble segregated second
phases. Porosity and coarse segregated phases led to stress concen-
tration so the crack easily started from there and propagated
throughout the sample thickness. Moreover, the coarse grain size
of the fused zones favored the mobility of the crack tip. Coarse
grain size, porosity and segregation observed in the fusion zone en-
hanced both crack initiation and mobility of the crack tip. Fracture
surfaces showed no significant difference since the rupture was
mainly due to stress concentration around the defects (Fig. 13).
6. Conclusions
This paper has dealt with the effect of the post weld heat treatment
of AA5754, which was welded in annealing condition by FLAHW. The
conclusions involve the following points:
• Cross weld section microhardness of the untreated joints exhibited
axi-symmetric profile characterized by a minimum at welding center-
line and a maximum at FGZ. The high microhardness for each profile
was detected in FGZ and mainly depended on dissolution of the
small Mg particles (both Mg2Al3 and Mg2Si) as confirmed by a gradual
reduction of particle percentage from the BM to the FGZ.
• Joint cross weld microstructure was dendritic and was characterized
by equiaxed grains close to the centerline and columnar grains at
the HAZ interface. In the CZ the equiaxed grain area is higher with
respect to that of the LZ due to the shallow thermal gradient. FZ hard-
ness values increased with R.
• Solute segregation and second phase segregation were observed in
the melted zone. Particularly, the prevalent columnar structure in
the LZ promotes a higher segregation with respect to the CZ.
• The PWHT led to the reduction of the segregation and therefore to the
strengthening by Mg solutionizing. Microhardness of the heat treated
FZ was quite constant and higher than that of the BM.
• Ultimate tensile strength of s2 weld in T350_50 state was 19% greater
with respect to the untreated weld and similar to that of BM. There-
fore, a targeted PWHT can improve the mechanical strength of
AA5754 laser hybrid weld.
786 P. Leo et al. / Materials and Design 90 (2016) 777–786
• Untreated and PWHT weld showed low and similar elongation prop-
erty. Low elongation was probably due to porosity, coarse grain size
and insoluble segregated second phases which promoted the rupture
as confirmed by no necking evidence.
References
[1] S. Kumar, H.B. Nadendla, G.M. Scamans, D.G. Eskin, Z. Fan, Solidification behavior of
an AA5754 alloy ingot cast with high impurity content, Int. J. Mater. Res. 103 (2012)
E1–E7.
[2] Ø. Ryen, O. Nijs, E. Sjölander, B. Holmedal, H. Ekström, E. Nes, Strengthening mech-
anism in solid solution aluminum alloys, Metall. Mater. Trans. A 37A (2006)
1999–2006.
[3] I.J. Polmear, Light Alloys: Metallurgy of the Light Metals, Butterworth Heinemann,
1995.
[4] R.W. Messler, Principles of Welding, Wiley-VCH, 2004.
[5] H. Jiang, L. YE, X. Zhang, G. Gu, P. Zhang, Y. Wu, Intermetallic phase evolution of
5059 aluminum alloy during homogenization, Trans. Nonferrous Metals Soc. China
23 (2013) 3553–3560.
[6] T. Radetic, M. Ppovic, E. Romhanji, Microstructure evolution of a modified AA5083
aluminum alloy during a multistage homogenization treatment, Mater. Charact.
65 (2012) 16–27.
[7] J. Ding, D. Wang, Y. Wang, H. Du, Effect of post weld heat treatment on properties of
variable polarity TIG welded AA2219 aluminum alloy joints, Trans. Nonferrous
Metals Soc. China 24 (2014) 1307–1316.
[8] R. Ahmad, M.A. Bakar, Effect of a post-weld heat treatment on the mechanical and
microstructure properties of AA6061 joints welded by the gas metal arc welding
cold metal transfer method, Mater. Des. 32 (2011) 5120–5126.
[9] V. Balasubramanian, V. Ravisankar, R. Madhusudhan, Influence of pulsed current
welding and post weld aging treatment of fatigue crack growth behavior of
AA7075 aluminum alloy joints, Int. J. Fatigue 30 (2008) 405–416.
[10] Z.Y. Zhu, C.Y. Deng, Y. Wang, Z.W. Yang, J.K. Ding, D.P. Wang, Effect of post weld heat
treatment on the microstructure and corrosion behavior of AA2219 aluminum alloy
joints welded by variable polarity tungsten inert gas welding, Mater. Des. 65 (2015)
1075–1082.
[11] R.R. Ambritz, G. Barrera, R. Garcia, V.H. Lopez, The microstructure and mechanical
strength of Al-6061 T6 GMA welds obtained with the modified indirect electric
arc joint, Mater. Des. 31 (2010) 2978–2986.
[12] A. Liu, X. Tang, F. Lu, Study on welding process and prosperities of AA5754 Al-alloy
welded by double pulsed gas metal arc welding, Mater. Des. 50 (2013) 149–155.
[13] J. Senkara, H. Zhang, Cracking in spot welding aluminum alloys, Weld. Res. Suppl.
(2000) 194–201.
[14] T.S. Mahmoud, T.A. Khalifa, Microstructural and mechanical characteristics of alumi-
num alloy AA5754 friction stir spot welds, Mater. Eng. Perform. 23 (3) (2014)
898–905.
[15] J. Zhou, H.L. Tsai, Welding process, InTech, Change 1 (2012) 3–32.
[16] A.M. Mazar, J. Ma, G. Yang, R. Kovacevic, Hybrid laser/arc welding of advanced high
strength steel in different butt joint configurations, Mater. Des. 64 (2014) 573–587.
[17] C. He, C. Huang, Y. Liu, J. Li, Q. Wang, Effects of mechanical heterogeneity on the ten-
sile and fatigue behaviours in a laser-arc hybrid welded aluminium alloy joint,
Mater. Des. 65 (2015) 289–296.
[18] Z. Zhang, S. Dong, Y. Wang, B. Xu, J. Fang, P. He, Microstructure characteristic of thick
aluminum alloy plate joints welded by fiber laser, Mater. Des. 84 (2015) 173–177.
[19] F. Olsen, Hybrid Laser-arc Welding, Woodhead Publishing, Cambridge UK, 2009.
[20] M. El Rayes, C. Walz, G. Sepold, The influence of various hybrid welding parameters
on bead geometry, Weld. J. 83 (2004) 147s–153s.
[21] P. Leo, G. Renna, G. Casalino, A.G. Olabi, Effect of power distribution on the weld
quality during hybrid laser welding of an Al–Mg alloy, Opt. Laser Technol. 73
(2015) 118–126.
[22] G. Casalino, S.L. Campanelli, M.U. Dal, A.D. Ludovico, Arc leading versus laser leading
in the hybrid welding of aluminum alloy using a fiber laser, Procedia CIRP 12 (2013)
151–156.
[23] G. Casalino, M. Mortello, P. Leo, K.Y. Benyounis, A.G. Olabi, Study on arc and laser
powers in the hybrid welding of AA5754 Al-alloy, Mater. Des. 61 (2014) 191–198.
[24] W.F. Smith, Structure and Properties of Engineering Alloys, McGraw-Hill, 1992.
[25] Aluminum and Aluminum Alloys, ASM International, 1993.
[26] O. Engler, Z. Liu, K. Kuhnke, Impact of homogenization on particles in the Al–Mg–Mn
alloy AA 5454 — experiment and simulation, J. Alloys Compd. 560 (2013) 111–122.
[27] M. Gao, Y. Cao, X.Y. Zeng, T.X. Lin, Mechanical properties and microstructures of
hybrid laser MIG welded dissimilar Mg–Al–Zn alloys, Sci. Technol. Weld. Join. 15
(7) (2010) 638–645 (09).
[28] Y.B. Chen, Y.B. Zhao, Z.L. Lei, L.Q. Li, Effects of laser induced metal vapour on arc plas-
ma during laser arc double sided welding of 5A06 aluminium alloy, Sci. Technol.
Weld. Join. 17 (2012) 1.
[29] S. Kumar, B.N. Hari, G.M. Scamans, Z. Fan, Influence of intensive melt shearing on the
microstructure and mechanical properties of an Al–Mg alloy with high added impu-
rity content, Metall. Mater. Trans. A 42A (2011) 3141–3149.
[30] S. Kumar, B.N. Hari, G.M. Scamans, Z. Fan, Microstructural evaluation of melt condi-
tioned twin roll cast Al–Mg alloy, Mater. Sci. Technol. 27 (No. 12) (2011) 1833–1839.
[31] L.F. Mondolfo, Aluminium Alloys: Structure and Properties, Butterworth, 1976.
[32] D.A. Porter, K.E. Easterling, Phase Transformations in Metals and Alloys, Chapman &
Hall, 1992.
[33] M. Baricco, R. Montanari, Solidificazione, AIM, 2012.
[34] J.D. Verhoeven, Fundamentals of Physical Metallurgy, Wiley, 1975.
[35] Y.L. Liu, S.B. Kang, Solidification and segregation of Al–Mg alloys and influence of
alloy composition and cooling rate, Mater. Sci. Technol. 13 (1997) 331–336.
[36] S. Das, N.S. Lim, H.W. Kim, C.G. Park, Effects of heat treatment on microstructure and
mechanical properties of twin roll casted Al–5.5 Mg–0.02 Ti alloy, Mater. Des. 31
(2010) 3111–3115.
[37] E.L. Huskins, B. Cao, K.T. Ramesh, Strengthening mechanisms in an Al–Mg alloy,
Mater. Sci. Eng. A 527 (2010) 1292–1298.
[38] S. Kou, Welding Metallurgy, Wiley-VCH, 2003.
[39] E.-D.H. Nasr, S.F. Moustafa, A.N. Abdel-Azim, A. Ismail, The deformation of alumini-
um–magnesium alloys, Mater. Sci. Technol. 10 (1) (1992) 16–20.
[40] G.E. Dieter, Mechanical Metallurgy, McGraw-Hill, 2001.