International Scientific Journals
of Scientific Technical Union of Mechanical Engineering "Industry 4.0"

This paper presents a method of economic analysis of welding tubes made of aluminum alloy AA6060 using MIG and TIG arc processes, as well as the non-conventional FSW process in relation to the length of the welded joint. The cost model includes fixed and variable costs, which are broken down into individual components, and their specifics for each of the selected processes are considered. The input values were defined and a calculation was made for obtaining a specific workpiece, that is, for welding a tube with an outer diameter of ∅150 mm, and a wall thickness of 5 mm, with a butt joint in real production conditions. The obtained results were analyzed and the price of welding was determined according to the production time and per meter of the welded joint.

Welding is a manufacturing process, which uses heat or pressure to form a homogeneous weld when joining homogeneous or heterogeneous metal materials or thermoplastics. The last decade has been characterized by the intensive development of unconventional welding processes, which use friction as an energy source, and in developed countries have taken primacy over conventional welding processes. The modern welding process, known as Friction Stir Welding (FSW), offers many advantages over conventional Tungsten Inert Gas (TIG) and Metal Inert Gas (MIG) processes, both in terms of weld quality and environmental protection and in terms of saving time and materials needed to perform quality welding. This paper presents TIG, MIG and FSW welding technologies, with all the advantages and disadvantages, and the possibilities of their application in welding AA6082-T6 aluminum alloy (6xxx series), characterized by medium strength and outstanding corrosion resistance