International Conference on Recent Advances in Mechanical Engineering and Interdisciplinary Developments [ICRAMID - 2014]

Effects of Porosity on Strength of Aluminum

Alloy 2219
K.Thyagarajan#3

G. Jeganlal

H.M. Umer

LPSC, ISRO, India,

jeganlal_isro@yahoo.com

LPSC, ISRO, India,

hm_umer@lpsc.gov.in

Abstract :-- This paper gives the effects of single and multiple
pore on the strength of AA2219 welds. Single and double pores
are created on welded specimens and tested to study the effects.
Also finite element analysis carriedout to correlate the
experimental results with theory

3.

1.
2.

Much research has been carried out on the porosity of

Aluminum Alloy welds, their causes, effects on the
mechanical properties and ways to reduce them. Published
technical papers[1],[4] presents what causes themwhat is its
effect on weld performance and methods to mitigate them.
The subject matter is important since unless the effect of
porosity on the strength of weld is known we cannot arrive at
an acceptance criteria. It is almost impossible to get a pore
free production weld and repair of all pores is uneconomical
and detrimental.
If the reduction in weld strength due to the existence
of pore is less than that caused by rework.then it is prudent
not to go for rework and accept the porosity as is if the
strength reduction is acceptable. However the decision to live
with pore or go for rework is possible only if one knows the
effect of porosity on weld strength.
The technical papers, [1] to [5] presents the relation
between strength reduction of welds due to single pore of
different diameters and depths. Though experimental results
of the weld strengths with multiple pores is presented,
correlation could not be arrived at since theoretical studies
were not done. This papers attempts to give the necessary
theoretical backup along with experimental data.

Contamination of filler wire.

Or combination of all these.

The gases are prevented from escaping by

Keywords AA2219 weld, pores, weld strength

INTRODUCTION

PonJesly College of engineering,

India,
nicedrktr@yahoo.com

High weld speed.

Weld position and fixtures.

The porosities in weldments can be reduced by taking

effective measures to control all these causes, though total
elimination of them is not possible.
ALUMINUM ALLOY AA2219
AA2219 is a heat treatable AluminumCopper alloy,
chemical composition of which is given in table 1. The
material has high specific strength which is achieved by the
precipitation of CuAl2 inside the grains which resist
movement of dislocation, increasing the yield and ultimate
strengths. Copper imparts strength and weldability, Mn
improves fracture toughness, Zr and V acts as grain refiners
and Ti acts as grain refiner and avoids solidification crack.
The material is ductile and it retains its ductility and fracture
toughness even at -253o C and hence used in the propellant
tanks of liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen.
AA2219 has good weldability and can be welded by AC TIG
or DCSP TIG processes [6]. Weld efficiency in the as welded
condition is 55%, can be improved by post weld ageing. The
low weld strength is due to the unfavorable micro structural
changes in the weld pool due to melting and slow cooling. The
ductility of AA2219 weld is limited by a shallow, brittle
copper rich cellular(CRC) structure. This structure has higher
Cu content (30-35 weight% Cu) and located at the crown and
root corners. Removal of this CRC structure increases
ductility.

WELD POROSITY, CAUSES AND PREVENTATION

MATERIAL PROPERTY
Weld porosities are caused by the
1.
2.

Introduction of gases during the welding.

Prevention of the escaping gases during solidification

The gases are introduced during welding by

1.
2.

Contamination of job
Moisture, in shielding gases.

For the launch vehicle liquid propellant tank,

AA2219 is the widely used material because of its high
specific strength, high fracture toughness, ductility and
weldability. The Youngs modulus of the material at room
temperature is 71000N/mm2 and Poisson ration 0.33. six
specimen of parent material in T87 condition (i.e. solution
hear treated, cold worked and aged ) and six welded specimen
are tested. Tested stress- strain curve of the specimen are

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International Conference on Recent Advances in Mechanical Engineering and Interdisciplinary Developments [ICRAMID - 2014]

shown in fig. 1 &2 .The yield strength and ultimate strength

values for the parent material and weld material at room
temperature is given in Table-2.

To find the effect of porosity on the weld strength of

AA2219, on the tensile test specimen pores are made by
electro discharge machining and the specimens tested till
failure. Single pore of different diameter and depths and
multiple pores of same diameter with different
ligamentthickness ' L' are made and tested.

Stress-strain curve for AA2219-T87

500

400

stress (MPa)

EFFECTS OF POROSITY OF WELD STRENGTH EXPERIMENTS

300

200

100

0
0

strain (%)

FIG-1: STRESS-STRAIN CURVE FOR AA2219-T87 (PARENT

MATERIAL)
Stress-strain curve for AA2219 weld
300

stress (MPa)

250
200

weld-tested

150

weld-rework

100

FIG.3. TENSILE TEST SPECIMEN

50

The width of specimen is 25.4mm, thickness 8.3 mm.

With the same defect 3 specimens were made and tested.
Average of these three values is considered for correlation and
discussion.

0
0

10

strain (%)

FIG-2: STRESS-STRAIN CURVE FOR AA2219 WELD

THE FOLLOWING SPECIMEN ARE TESTED.
TABLE 1 : CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF AA2219

Alloying element
Copper
Manganese
Titanium
Vanadium
Zirconium
Aluminium

% composition
6.3
0.3
0.06
0.1
0.18
balance

Type

Single pore

TABLE -2 : YIELD AND ULTIMATE STRENGTH VALUES OF AA2219

T87 AT ROOM TEMPERATURE

Material
AA2219 T87

Yield
Strength N/mm2

Parent metal
weld

350
140

Ultimate
Strength
N/mm2
440
240

Double pore

Dia
mm

Depth
mm

Spacing
mm

3.175
3.175
3.175
3.175
2
2
2

2.5
3.8
5
5.7
4
6
8

1.6
1.6
1.6
1.6

2
2.5
2.5
5

0.8
1.6
3.2
0.4

The specimen are welded by Direct Current (DC),

straight polarity (SP) i.e. Electrode negative process with
Helium as inert gas. The weld current is 300 Amp, AVC 7.68.4 V and the weld speed is 200mm/min.

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International Conference on Recent Advances in Mechanical Engineering and Interdisciplinary Developments [ICRAMID - 2014]

FINITE ELEMENT ANALYSIS

240
235

Failure stress, N/mm^2

Finite element analysis is carried out simulating the

tests carried out. Typical finite element model is shown in fig4. Quarter model with symmetry boundary condition is
created and meshed with solid element which is 8 noded
isoparametric element with 3 degree of freedom at each node.
The element has large deformation and plastic capabilities.
Multi linear stress- strain curve is input for the parent as well
as weld material, and a non linear elasto plastic analysis
carried out. Results at the failure load are compared for
different specimen.

230
225
220
215
210
3

14

16

18

Hole depth, mm
Dia 2 mm

Dia 3.175 mm

FIG.5 FRACTURE STRESS VS HOLE DEPTH

240

Failure stress, N/mm^2

235

230

225

220

215

210
6

10

12
Defect area, mm^2

FIG.6 FRACTURE STRESS VS DEFECT AREA

Fig.4 FE model showing single and double pores

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION.
SINGLE PORE
Experimental results shows that the reduction in
strength of the specimen due to a single pore is proportionalto
the reduction in fracture area due to defect. Fig-5 shows the
fracture stress v/s hole depth plots for various holes sizes. The
same is plotted as fracture stress v/s defect area (Fig-6). The
plots are linear implying the reduction in failure stress is
proportional to the reduction in the fracture area and the stress
concentration effects at the hole edges are not influencing the
load carrying capacity. Since the actual pore in the production
welds are spheres the test and analysis with cylindrical pores
are conservative and applicable.

Ligament stress vs. nominal stress plot for typical

specimen from the finite element analysis is shown in fig. 7
Fig. 8 Shows typical axial stress in the specimen. It can be
seen that the stresses at the edges of the hole is three times the
nominal stress in the elastic regimen and once the yield
strength is reached the stresses redistributes and the increase
in stress is not proportionalto increase in load. Final failure of
specimen is due to the net section reaching the ultimate stress
and not due to a particular point or a local region reaching the
ultimate stress. The percentage of net section area required to
reach the ultimate strength level before failure is found to be
60 %
Comparison of ligament stress Vs. nominal stress
300

250

Ligament stress

200

150
LW0.8, 2 deep

100

50

0
0

20

40

60

80

100

120

Nominal Stress

FIG.7 COMPARISON OF LIGAMENT STRESS VS. NOMINAL STRESS

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International Conference on Recent Advances in Mechanical Engineering and Interdisciplinary Developments [ICRAMID - 2014]

the hole edges are common for both single pore and double
pore, for the double pore case higher stress at both hole edges
and at the ligament connecting the hole causes a significant
area under higher stress initiating failure there. The failure
stresses of single pore and double pore for defect area of 8
mm2is given in fig.-10. Grey colour indicates stress above 240
N/mm2 i.e. UTS of weld.

FIG.8 TYPICAL AXIAL STRESS DISTRIBUTION IN THE SPECIMEN

WITH SINGLE PORE

MULTIPLE PORE
Four configurations with two pores are tested and the
no of specimen for each configuration is three. The results of
the test and the comparison with single pore specimen of
equal defect area is given in Fig-9. It is seen that for the same
defect area, the specimen with multiple pores fail at gross
stresses less than that of single pore i.e. their load carrying
capability is lesser than that of single pore specimen of same
defect area.
240

Fig.10The failure stresses of single pore and double pore Vs defect area

For the two pore cases always ligament fails first and
the entire ligament and pore act as single defect causing a high
stress in significant area.
Also it is seen from the analysis of two pore
specimen that for the specimen to fail, at least 60% of the
thickness of the specimen should reach the ultimate tensile
strength of weld.

Failure stress, N/mm^2

235

CONCLUSION

230
225

To find the effect of pores on AA2219 welds tension

tests on welded specimen with single and double pores are
carriedout.It is seen that for single pore the reduction in failure
stress is proportional to the defect area.

220
215
210
205
6

10

12

14

16

For the double pore cases the reduction in failure

stresses are more than that of the single pore case of the same
defect area.
This is due to higher stress and strain
concentration around both the holes and the ligaments. Hence
multiple pore is more serious defect than a single pore.

18

Defect area, mm^2

Single pore

Multiple pore

FIG. 9 FRACTURE STRESS VS DEFECT AREA- COMPARISON

To understand this behavior the stress field of single

pore and double pore specimen at the failure load is
compared. Since 240N/mm2 is the failure load of AA2219
weld , the volume in which the axial stresses (stresses along
the load direction)crosses 240N/mm2 is plotted grey. It is
seen that for the single pore case more area has to cross the
240N/mm2 limit for the specimen to failwhereas for the two
hole case lesser area crossing the thresh hold limit is sufficient
to cause failure . Though the stress concentration effect on

Minimum 60% of the thickness of specimen should

reach the ultimate tensile strength of the weld for the gross
failure of the specimen.
REFERENCE

ISBN 978-93-80609-17-1
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1.

J.F. Redy and E.J.Rupert, Effect of porosity on

Mechanical properties of Aluminum welds, welding
Research supplement, PP322- 5-336.5, July 1970.

International Conference on Recent Advances in Mechanical Engineering and Interdisciplinary Developments [ICRAMID - 2014]

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

Thomas M. Morton, Defects in 2021 Aluminum

Alloy welds, welding research supplement, pp 3045-312.5, July 1971.
R.F.Ashton,R.P.Westey, C.R.Dixon, :The effect of
porosity on 5086-H116 Aluminum alloy welds,
welding Research supplement, PP 955-98-5 , March
195.
J. shore, R.B Mecauley, Effects of porosity on High
strength Aluminum 7039, welding Research
Supplement, pp311-5-321.5
F.G.Nelson and Marshall Holt, Effect of
discontinuities on weld strength of Aluminum alloys,
welding Research Supplement, PP427-433.
The Aluminium Association Welding Aluminium :
Theory and practice, Second edition June 1991.

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