Development of a predictive model for determining mechanical properties of AA 6061 using regression analysis

Aluminum alloys (AA) such as AA 6061 are difficult to weld, and their application to high-strength demands tends to be limited because of their inherently low-strength threshold levels when compared to other alloys. To effectively use this alloy to its full potential, its tensile strength, is investigated. In actual manufacturing settings, it has proven beneficial to attempt a prediction of the tensile properties of potential weld joints. To achieve this, a model was developed using the multiple linear regression analysis to predict these tensile properties such as the ultimate tensile strength, the yield strength (YS), and percentage elongation (% Elong). It was found from the scattered diagrams that the measured and predicted values were almost a perfect fit with a coefficient of determination of between 0.99 and 1.0. The analysis of variance further validated the adequacy of the model. The analysis showed that the claims observed in the study match with those of other investigators. The predictive model obtained is expected to help the welding community to pre-determine the tensile properties of AA 6061 weldment using selected values for each of the process parameters applied in this study.