The Weldability of Magnesium Alloys for Car Industry

Magnesium alloys are becoming important material for light weight car body, due to their low specific density but high specific strength. However they have a poor weldability, caused high oxidization tendency and low vapor temperature. In this study, the welding performance of magnesium alloys was investigated for automobile application. The materials were rolled magnesium alloy sheet contains Al and Zn such as AZ3l , AZ6l and AZ9l. Three types of welding process were studied, that were GTAW, Laser beam welding and FSW. To evaluate the weldability, we examined the appearance of welding bead. Also we checked bead shape and internal defects such as crack and porosity on cross section of welding bead. The mechanical property was measured for welded specimen by tensile test. For determination of the strength change by welding process, the hardness profile across the welding center was measured. For the results, the tensile properties of welded specimen were decreased obviously on all welding process. For the fusion welding process such as GTAW and laser beam welding, the surface of the welding bead was covered with oxidized magnesium dust but it was removed by simple cleaning work as wipe-out with tissue. Also under cut, that caused vaporization of base metal was occurred. for the friction stir welding, there was no oxidation, under-cut or internal defects. However it had poor weld performance, the reason was cleavage fracture occurred at plastic deformation zone. For welding of magnesium alloy, the laser beam welding process was recommended.