New insights into fine equiaxed zone of laser-welded 2A97 Al-Li alloy

•The electron backscattered diffraction analysis was performed on the cross, upper, and lower sections of 2A97-T3 laser welded joint. It is found that the fine equiaxed band possessing randomly orientated grains produces weak and random texture in the specific region.•In the fine equiaxed zone, the precipitates within the grain are mainly T1 and θ′, accompanied with a small amount of δ′. The dominant intermetallic phase enveloping the grain was T1, and a small amount of plate S′ was present at the junction of three or more grains.•The concept of the fine equiaxed band was proposed for the first time and the concept of the fine equiaxed zone was redefined.