terial, then not much yielding can take place before fracture, a condition to

be avoided. Of the alloys in the Aluminum Specification, only 2014-T6 and

6070-T6 suffer this fate. Therefore, these alloys (and 6066-T6, which is similar
to 6070-T6) are considered to be notch-sensitive. The effect this has on
design is discussed in Section 5.1.1.
4.5 THE EFFECT OF WELDING ON
MECHANICAL PROPERTIES
Although alloying aluminum with elements like copper or magnesium increases
the strength of aluminum, much of aluminum alloys� strength comes
from precipitation-heat treatments (all tempers beginning with T5, T6, T7,
T8, T9, or T10) or strain-hardening (all tempers beginning with H1, H2, H3,
or H4). Heating the material tends to erase the effect of precipitation-heat
treatments and strain-hardening, so arc welding, which brings a localized
portion of the metal to the melting point, decreases the material�s strength at
the weld. For non-heat-treatable alloys (the ones that are strengthened by
strain-hardening, that is, the 1xxx, 3xxx, and 5xxx series), the heat-affected
zone�s strength is reduced to the annealed strength. For heat-treatable alloys
(the 2xxx, 6xxx, and 7xxx series), the heat-affected zone�s strength is reduced
to slightly below the solution-heat-treated strength (T4 temper), wiping out
the effect of precipitation-heat treatment. Since the strength of mild carbon
steel is not reduced by welding, welding�s effect on aluminum can be an
unpleasant surprise to some structural engineers. Welding does not, however,
affect the modulus of elasticity (E) of the metal.
The effect of welding on strength varies by alloy. The reduction in strength
is smallest for some of the 5xxx series alloys designed to be especially suitable
for welding. For example, the unwelded tensile ultimate strength of 5086-
H112 plate under 0.500 in. [12.5 mm] thick is 36 ksi [250 MPa]; its welded
strength is 35 ksi [240 MPa]. At the other extreme, most alloys containing
appreciable amounts of copper (these tend to be the highest strength aluminum
alloys and include all of the 2xxx series and many alloys of the 7xxx
series) are difficult to weld at all.
The effect of welding depends on many factors, including how much heat
is applied during welding. This can vary by welding process (gas tungsten or
gas metal arc welding), thickness of the parts welded, welding speed, and
preheating. It also depends on the filler alloy used. All these effects are
averaged
to establish the minimum welded strengths given in Aluminum Specification
Table 3.3-2, and are distinguished from the unwelded strengths by
adding w to the subscript. (For example, the minimum welded tensile yield
strength is Ftyw.) Two warnings should be heeded in using this table:
1) The welded tensile ultimate strengths (Ftuw) must be multiplied by 0.9
before they may be used in formulas for member strength in the Specification.