Effect of pulse frequency on hardness characteristics of Al-Cu alloy HPVP-GTAW joints

AA 2219-O Al-Cu alloy single bead welds were obtained by hybrid ultrahigh frequency pulse variable polarity gas tungsten arc welding (HPVP-GTAW) process with pulse frequency varying from 25 kHz to 70 kHz. Weld hardness characteristics which mainly depicted by microhardness and its gradient were investigated systematically. The results show that pulse frequency has a great effect on the hardness characteristics. The weld zone microhardness and its gradient with different pulse frequency present an evident fluctuant trend. The fluctuation of gradient is slight, illustrating that the microstructure is uniform with pulse frequency varied from 35 kHz to 60 kHz. The fusion zone microhardness and its gradient follow the similar trends but fluctuate greatly. Maximum value of gradient appears around the fusion boundary due to the coarse and non-uniform microstructure. The maximum gradient at 60 kHz is only 25.5% of that at 45 kHz. According to the study, the best hardness characteristics are achieved at 60 kHz frequency.