Microstructure and Microhardness of Laser Beam Welded Al-Mg-Mn-Zr-Er Joint

In this work,the weldability of the alloy Al-Mg-Mn-Zr-Er with high power Nd:YAG laser has been studied.Samples were subjected to three different welding heat inputs to obtain various weld beads.The main objective of the present work has been to investigate the change of microstructure and microhardness at the Al-Mg-Mn-Zr-Er laser weld beads.Results showed that the top width of the bead was larger at the higher laser power.Grain structure refinement was found in welded metal,especially at higher laser power.It was also verified that the microhardness of weld bead was raised with the decrease of laser power,due to the microstructure refinement at the condition of lower laser power.