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-----Laser welding 4047 aluminum that has been chem film finished per MIL-DTL-5541 class 3
Q. Are there any problems when laser welding 4047 aluminum that has been chem film finished per MIL-DTL-5541 class 3?
Dan Millerwelder - San Jose, California, USA
June 5, 2012
A. Ideally you'll want to do the welding prior to chem film. At best case, you'll will now have to go back in and apply the chem film to the weld, and perhaps the surrounding area (the chem film will start to break down at around 150-200° if I correctly recall). This is, of course, assuming that your part requires the weld to be coated.
If it doesn't need to be coated, then I can't see any problems with welding, other than perhaps fume generation.
Chem film is also easily scratched, so I'd want to limit the amount of post coating operations as much as possible.
Marc Green
anodizer - Boise, Idaho
June 9, 2012
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