Laser beam welding of a Ti–6Al–4V support flange for buy-to-fly reduction

Titanium and its alloys are increasingly being used in aerospace, although a number of issues must be addressed. Namely, in the framework of welding to produce complex parts, the same mechanical strength and a reduced buy-to-fly ratio are desired in comparison with the same components resulting from machining. To give grounds to actual application of autogenous laser beam welding, Ti–6Al–4V L- and T-joints have been investigated in this paper, as they are a common occurrence in general complex components. Discussions in terms of possible imperfections, microstructure, and microhardness have been conducted. Then, a real part consisting of a support flange for aerospace application has been chosen as a valuable test-article to be compared with its machined counterpart both in terms of strength and buy-to-fly. The feasibility and the effectiveness of the process are shown. © 2017 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.