Effects of Activating Fluxes on DC A-TIG Welding of 3003 Aluminum Alloy

DC A-TIG welding on 3003 Aluminum alloy was investigated.The single component and multi-component of halide NaCl,CaF2and oxide SiO2,MnO2,TiOv were served as activating fluxes to study the effect on weld penetration,weld forming and joint microstructure.The result shows that DC A-TIG with certain activating fluxes can improve weld penetration,quality and productivity.Overall,the activating fluxes could increase weld penetration more than twice,except for NaCl.Multi-component of halides and oxides has more significant effect on weld penetration than single component.The activating flux named PS5 could improve weld penetration over 3 times,and there is no weld defects such as cracks,blowhole and weld slag inclusions in weld joint.From metallographic structure of TIG t and A-TIG weld joint,it can be seen that the welding seam of TIG welding has a bigger coarse grain structure than A-TIG welding,but the average grain size in HAZ of A-TIG and TIG is same.