HILCO – P2

“Flying without wings” with HILCO Aluminium welding wires!”

Hilco Product infoHaarlem, 30th of June 2005 – Holland is working, together with Belgium, on boundless transport. From the year 2007 the HSL(high speed line) will connect Amsterdam with Antwerp and Brusselswith Paris. Connection to the Europea net of high speed lines makes travelling through Europeeasier and offers above all an environment friendly alternative for travelling by car and plane.It isexpected that many travellers will use the “flying without wings” in the future.

High speed trains will travel with a maximum speed of 300 km per hour over the HSL-South Line. These speeds require optimum performance, guaranteed safety and confidence. So it is not remarkable to see that for the construction it has been chosen for Aluminium in most cases. By its specific characteristics aluminium offers an ideal combination of optimum strength and a low weight.

Like always, specific demands require specific treatment. With aluminium wires the surface is crucial: it must be absolutely clean in order to avoid problems like porosity. During production, the wires are treated in a special way called “shaving”. By repeating this twice and immediately after “polishing”, all pollution is removed. With this treatment we guarantee you a problem free application of our Hilco wires in your aluminium welding process.

Welding of Aluminium
Aluminium is successfully welded only after careful thought and preparation. Through correct preparation, it is easier to avoid the pitfalls that can trap the unwary. Therefore this introduction with facts on base metals, welding methods, types of joint and filler metals. This introduction is just a general guideline, please contact us for more information.

Base metals
Aluminium and its alloys can be divided into three major groups:

• Aluminium
• Nonhardenable / non heat treatable alloys
• Hardenable / heat treatable alloys

Aluminium is developed in various grades of purity. The most common commercial grades contain 99,7-99,5 or 99,0% aluminium. Non-hardenable alloys, i.e. not suitable for heat treatment, contain small amounts of Mn or Mg. AlMn alloys are often made up of between 1,0-1,2%Mn, while AlMg alloys with up to 5% are quite common. AlMgMn alloys are also used. The hardenable alloys contain copper (Cu), magnesium and silicon (Mg+Si), or zinc and magnesium (Zn+Mg).

Aluminium and most of the non-heat treatable and heat treatable alloys possess good weldability. In the case of hardenable alloys with copper and lead additives, there is a risk of hot cracking and there fore they are difficult-to-weld. Many casting alloys are also suitable for welding except in the case of those, which have high content of copper or magnesium which cannot be welded.

Welding application	Special considerations	Common base materials	Filler metal selection
Shipbuilding and sub suppliers Requirements: Saltwater corrosion resistance, pressure vessel service, thick plate welding
Structural frames	Strength & fatigue, corrosion, extrusions & cut plate	6061 to 6061 6061 to 5086 5086 to 5086 5083 to 5083	AL Mg5 AL Mg5 AL Mg5 AL Mg4,5Mn
Skin	Strength & corrosion	5052 to 5052 5086 to 5086 6061 to 6061 5083 to 5083	AL Mg5, AL Si5 (2nd choice) AL Mg5 AL Mg5 AL Mg4,5Mn
Desalination units	Corrosion & high temperatures	5454 to 5454 5052 to 5052	AL Mg3 AL Mg3
Tube railings	Strength & anodize	6061 to 6061 6063 to 6063	ÁL Mg5 AL Mg5
Structural plate & LNG tanks	Impact strength & cold temperature properties	5083 to 5083	AL Mg4,5Mn
Marine cast hardware	Strength & corrosion	5180 to 5180 5350 to 5350	AL Mg5 AL Mg5
Cars, manufacturing and sub suppliers Requirements: Thin wall brazing for heat exchangers, corrosion resistant high strength wheels, high torque drive components, body and frame joining
Heat exchangers	Pressure seal, corrosion resistance & thin wall burst pressure	3003 to 3003 3003 to 6061 6061 to 6061	AL Si12, AL Si5 (2nd choice) AL Si12, AL Si5 (2nd choice) AL Si12, AL Si5 (2nd choice)
Wheels	Shear strength, fatigue and high temperature	5454 to 5454 5454 to 6061 5356 to 5454	AL Mg3 AL Mg3 AL Mg3
Drive shafts	Torque / shear strength & fatigue	6061 to 6061	AL Mg5
Bumpers & supports	Impact strength, corrosion resistance & extrusions	7005 to 7005 7029 to 7029	AL Mg5
Body panels	Tensile strength, corrosion resistance & thin wall welding	6009 to 6009 6011 to 6011	AL Si5, ALSi 12 (2nd choice) AL Si5, ALSi 12 (2nd choice)
Frame sections	Strength & fatigue	6061 to 6061	AL Si5
Trucks, buses and trailers Requirements: High quality production welding technology, product cost optimation, product reliability engineering
Formed truck panels	Formability & corrosion resistance	5052 to 5052 5052 to 5454 5454 to 5454	AL Mg5 AL Mg5 AL Mg5
Engine blocks cast housings	Weld cracking	356 to 356	AL Si12
Cylinder heads	Weld cracking	A201.0 to A201.0 240.0 to 240.0 242.0 to 242.0	AL Si12 AL Si12 AL Si12
Forged pistons	Weld cracking	2218 to 2218 2618 to 2618	AL Si5 AL Si5

Welding application	Special considerations	Common base materials	Filler metal selection
Trucks, buses and trailers Requirements: High quality production welding technology, product cost optimation, product reliability engineering
Truck panels	Strength, cost efficiency & fatigue	5454 to 5454 5086 to 5086 5083 to 5083	AL Mg5, AL Mg3 (2nd choice) AL Mg5 AL Mg5, nd AL Mg4,5Mn (2 choice)
Chemical tankers	Strength & corrosion resistance	5254 to 5254	AL Mg4,5Mn
Line heaters & steam liners	Strength & high temperature	5454 to 5454	AL Mg3
Trim	Formability, anodise & polish	5050 to 5050 5005 to 5005	AL Mg5 AL Mg5
Trains, railway cars Requirements: High quality production welding technology, product cost optimation, product reliability engineering
Train panels	Strength & fatigue cost efficiency	5454 to 5454 5086 to 5086 5083 to 5083	AL Mg5, AL Mg3 (2nd choice) AL Mg5 AL Mg4,5Mn
Aerospace & defence industry Requirements: Extreme temperature service, maximum strength-to-weld ratios, X-ray inspection standards, armour plate technology, complex joint designs
Aerospace hardware	Strength-to-weight ratio	6061 to 6061 6013 to 6013 If anodised PWHT	AL Si5 AL Si5 AL Mg5 AL Si5
Turbine blades and torque converters	Strength-to-weight ratio	711.0 to 711.0	AL Mg5
Armour plate	Impact strength & strength-to- weight ratio	5083 to 5083 7039 to 7039	AL Mg5 AL Mg5
Military bridges	Strength-to-weight ratio	7039 to 7039 PWHT	AL Mg5
Other transport equipment Requirements: Alloys for maximum strength-to-weight ratios, high strength thin wall joining, complex heat treatment Bicycle frames & sport wheels
Bicycle frames & sport wheels	Strength fatigue & anodise	6061 to 6061 6061 to 6061 PWHT 7005 to 7005 7046 to 7046 5086 to 5086	AL Mg5 AL Si5 AL Mg5, nd AL Mg4,5Mn (2 AL Mg5, ndAL Mg4,5Mn (2 AL Mg5 choice) choice)
Tops & sleds	Deep drawing & forming	1100 to 1100 1100 to 1100	AL 99,5 AL Si5
Frame extrusions & body sheet	Strength-to-weight ratio & forming	6061 to 6061 5454 to 5454 5086 to 5086 5052 to 5052	AL Mg5 AL Mg5 AL Mg5 AL Mg5

Welding application	Special considerations	Common base materials	Filler metal selection
Energy generation incl. boilers and pressure vessels. Turbines. power plants, windmills Requirements: Defect free production welding technology, special alloys for specific environments
Pressure vessel	Strength	5456 to 5456	AL Mg4,5Mn AL Mg4,5MnZr (on request) AL Mg5Mn (on request)
Marine & cryogenic tanks	Temperature & strength	5083 to 5083	AL Mg4,5Mn
Chemical tanks	Chemical (acids), processing (food), H2O2, corrosion & strength	1060 to 1060 1100 to 1100 3003 to 3003 5254 to 5254	AL Si5 AL Si5 AL Si5 AL Mg3
General repair & maintenance Requirements: In field repair of cast aluminium objects, in workshop repair of aluminium objects, anodised aluminium parts
General repairs of aluminium products e.g. cylinders heads, machine bases, small engine crank cases, marine etc.	Pure/cast Al anodised, Mn & Mg Al alloys, AlMgSi alloys, unalloyed aluminium cast silicon aluminium alloys general grades	N/A N/A 6060 / 6083 N/A N/A all	AL 99,5 Aluminil 99,5 AL Mg3 Aluminil Mn1 Aluminil Si12 Aluminil Si5