Corrosion resistance of repair welded naval aluminium alloys

If after welding of aluminium ship hulls at the shipyards or even during service defects are detected in the vicinity of the weldment, repairs are used to extend service life. The method usually followed comprises mechanical removal of part of the weld and redeposition of the filler wire using the same parameters. Such a repair approach unavoidably subjects the remaining part of the weld to additional thermal cycles, which are responsible for significant microstructural changes. In this paper an attempt is made to define the effect of the increasing number of repairs on the corrosion resistance of the junction.