Improvement of mechanical properties of gas tungsten arc and electron beam welded AA2219 (Al-6 wt-%Cu) alloy

Despite its excellent weldability characteristics, AA2219 suffers from poor fusion zone strength under the as welded condition. In the present work, it is attempted to increase the mechanical properties of the as welded fusion zone of this alloy by increasing the weld cooling rates and multipass welding. The cooling rate was increased with the use of high intense heat source, namely electron beam in a pulsed current mode. Multipass gas tungsten arc welding was carried out using direct current straight polarity. These techniques resulted in a significant improvement in fusion zone hardness and tensile properties, which is attributed to reduced copper segregation and natural aging as well as aging caused by heat of multipass welding. © 2007 Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining.