GMA Brazing of Aluminum

Title: GMAW Brazing of Aluminum Abstract Los Alamos National Laboratory Nuclear Materials Technology looks for new methods to butt-join aluminum (6061 T6) rings of 0.125 in. wall thickness. The rings are allowed to rotate so that the welding torch can stay stationary during joining. Current practices use GMAW to join the rings, which are grooved with a 12 degrees sidewall angle, in three passes at 90 ipm linear travel speed. The developed new technology is expected to also use three passes but at the same or higher travel speed. In addition, the new technology in comparison with the current practices must (1) reduce and control the heat input at a desired level, and (2) reduce or minimize the spatters.