The Paton Welding Journal, 2025, №06

2025 №06 (02)

DOI of Article 10.37434/tpwj2025.06.03

2025 №06 (04)

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The Paton Welding Journal, 2025, #6, 19-24 pages

Influence of electron beam welding technology on the width of the softening zone of aluminium 2219 alloy

V.V. Skryabinskyi, V.M. Nesterenkov, M.O. Rusynyk, V.I. Zagornikov, O.I. Goncharenko, I.M. Klochkov

E.O. Paton Electric Welding Institute of the NASU. 11 Kazymyr Malevych Str., 03150, Kyiv, Ukraine. E-mail: skriabinski.vv.555@gmail.com

Abstract
During electron beam welding (EBW) of 2219 alloy, the strength characteristics of joints can decrease by up to 50 % in relation to the base metal. In order to ensure the uniform strength of the structure, the locations of the welds are chosen in thickened areas. At the same time, the width of the thickened area should be greater than the width of the softening zone of the welded joint. This zone includes the cast zone and the heat-affected zone (HAZ), in which the strength of the base metal decreased. The influence of welding speed and the use of process pads on the width of the cast zone and the HAZ, i.e. on the width of the softening zone during EBW of 2219 alloy plates were studied. It was found that an increase in the welding speed from 10 to 20 mm/s reduced the width of the softening zone approximately by a half. The use of the process pad allows reducing the width of the softening zone by approximately 20 %. In this case, the weld underfill is formed in the body of the pad and after its removal the welded butt does not require further mechanical treatment. It was established by calculation and experimental methods that the process pad cuts off the peripheral part of the electron beam, which is about 5 % of its full power. In practice, the influence of this peripheral part leads to undesirable expansion of the weld on the side of the beam entrance and to additional heating of the base metal and, as a result, to an increase in the size of the softening zone.
Keywords: electron beam welding, aluminium alloy, heat affected zone, softening zone, process pad

Received: 04.03.2025
Received in revised form: 06.05.2025
Accepted: 25.06.2025

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Suggested Citation

V.V. Skryabinskyi, V.M. Nesterenkov, M.O. Rusynyk, V.I. Zagornikov, O.I. Goncharenko, I.M. Klochkov (2025) Influence of electron beam welding technology on the width of the softening zone of aluminium 2219 alloy. The Paton Welding J., 06, 19-24.

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