Dissimilar micro friction stir welding of ultra-thin Mg AZ31 to Al 6061 sheets

We report the first successful work on micro friction stir welding (mu FSW) between ultra -thin (500 mu m) Mg AZ31 and Al 6061-T6 alloy sheets. The process resulted in a defect-free fully consolidated butt weld with regions of refined grains and strong metallurgical interlocking. Prepared joints evaluated under tensile testing showed joint efficiency of 54.5% with respect to AZ31 base material. Fracture under tensile testing occurred in stir zone/thermomechanically affected zone interface on Mg advancing side owing to the presence of intermetallic compounds. The prepared joints would have significant potential for structural applications in micro-assemblies and battery packs.(c) 2022 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

Automated summary

This study reports the successful micro friction stir welding (mu FSW) between ultra-thin (500 μm) Mg AZ31 and Al 6061-T6 alloy sheets. The process resulted in a defect-free butt weld with refined grains and strong metallurgical interlocking. The joints showed a joint efficiency of 54.5% with respect to the AZ31 base material, and fracture occurred at the interface between the stir zone/thermomechanically affected zone on the Mg advancing side due to intermetallic compounds. These prepared joints have significant potential for structural applications in micro-assemblies and battery packs.