STUDY ON TIG ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING OF 4043 ALUMINIUM ALLOY

Lixing Qiu; Yu Zhang

doi:10.17222/mit.2025.1403

Lixing Qiu College of Mechanical Engineering, Shenyang University, Shenyang 110044, China
Yu Zhang College of Mechanical Engineering, Shenyang University, Shenyang 110044, China

DOI: https://doi.org/10.17222/mit.2025.1403

Keywords: additive manufacturing, 4043 aluminum alloy, as-deposited microstructure, mechanical properties

Abstract

4043 aluminum alloy components were successfully fabricated in this study using TIG (tungsten inert gas) additive manufacturing with an ER4043 filler wire. The microstructure and mechanical properties of the as-deposited material were systematically investigated. Results demonstrated that the TIG-deposited components exhibited favorable geometric integrity. Metallographic observations revealed a microstructure dominated by coarse dendritic grains, which grew continuously across interlayer regions. Tensile tests indicated minimal anisotropy in strength: the average tensile strength parallel and perpendicular to the welding direction was 146.1 MPa and 148.7 MPa, respectively. However, the elongation parallel to the welding direction (23.91 %) was notably higher than that perpendicular to it (19.31 %). The observed elongation (19–24 %) surpasses conventional cast 4043 alloys (10–15 %), likely due to the absence of large-scale casting defects (e.g., shrinkage cavities). This highlights the potential of TIG AM as a hybrid manufacturing method for aluminum components requiring balanced strength and ductility.

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