The present investigation is concerned with high-cycle axial fatigue testing of a 2 mm AA6060-T6 HYB butt weld produced in the solid state using AA6082 filler metal addition. The results complement the three-point bend testing and the tensile testing done in two previous studies. In this study, optical microscope and scanning electron microscope examinations have been carried out to reveal the joint macro/microstructure and document possible surface and root defects deemed to affect fatigue life. In the as-welded condition, the HYB weld suffers from surface irregularities at the weld face and “kissing” bond formation in the root region. Despite of this, the subsequent testing shows that the fatigue properties exceed those reported for comparable AA6082-T6 gas metal arc butt welds and matching those reported for corresponding high-strength laser beam and friction stir weldments.

The present investigation is concerned with high-cycle axial fatigue testing of a 2 mm AA6060-T6 HYB butt weld produced in the solid state using AA6082 filler metal additions. It complements the three-point bend testing and the tensile testing done in two previous studies. Also, optical and scanning electron microscope investigations have been carried out to reveal the macro/microstructure and document possible surface & root defects deemed to be destructive to fatigue life. In the as-welded condition, the HYB weld suffers from surface irregularities at the weld face and “kissing” bond formation in the root region. Still, these defects are not devastating for the structural integrity. As a matter of fact, the subsequent benchmark testing shows that the fatigue properties surpass those reported for a comparable AA6082-T6 gas metal arc butt weld and fully match those reported for corresponding high-strength laser beam and friction stir weldments.