Laser welding of the high-strength Al-Cu-Li alloy

A complex experimental study of laser welding of the V-1469 Al-Cu-Li alloy is performed for obtaining a high-strength welded joint. The phase composition, microhardness, and strength characteristics of the alloy and welded joint in various regimes of heat treatment are studied. It is found that heat treatment of the welded joint increases its ultimate tensile strength. After complete heat treatment, microhardness values of the alloy and the welded joint become close to each other. Standard heat treatment of samples after welding allows recovery of the structure and phase composition of the entire sample at the micrometer size level. The use of heat treatment allows one to obtain the welded joint strength equal to 0.85 of the base alloy strength in the as-received T1 state.