• Journal of Welding and Joining
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• v.30 no.5
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• pp.70-75
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• 2012

This study is related to the laser weldability of AZ31B magnesium alloy, an all-purpose wrought alloy with good strength and ductility. In general, AZ31B is classified into AZ31B-H24 and AZ31B-O depending on temper designation. Thus, in this study, the laser weldability of AZ31B-H24 and AZ31B-O was investigated and compared. CW Nd:YAG laser was used to produce bead and butt joints. And the effects of welding conditions on the weldability of these joints were examined in detail. As a result of this study, AZ31B-H24 was found to have thinner oxide film and smaller grain size compared with AZ31B-O. Due to such difference, in bead welding, AZ31B-H24 had more wide welding range for full penetration compared with AZ31B-O. Furthermore, it was also confirmed that AZ31B-H24 and AZ31B-O have different welding conditions to obtain stable keyhole in butt welding.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Technology of Plasticity Conference
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• 2006.05a
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• pp.59-62
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• 2006

Mg alloys have drawn a huge attention in the field of transportation and consumer electronics industries since it is the lightest alloy which could be industrially applicable. Most Mg alloy components have been fabricated by casting method. However, there have been a lot of research activities on the wrought alloys and their plastic forming process recently. The deformation behavior of an AZ31 Mg alloy at the elevated temperature was examined firstly to find out the optimum plastic forming range in terms of temperature and strain rate. During high temperature deformation, AZ31 alloy is usually undergone the dynamic recrystallization which influence the deformation behavior in turn. In the present study, the effect of deformation on dynamic recrystallization of an AZ31 alloy was investigated to clarify the relation between the deformation and recrystallization. In an AZ31 alloy system, the dynamic recrystallization was found to occur continuously. Recrystallized grain size was dependent on the stress level.

• Journal of Welding and Joining
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• v.30 no.6
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• pp.56-61
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• 2012

Magnesium alloy sheet which is commercially available in the market presently is AZ31B, a Mg-Al-Zn three elements alloy. AZ31B is used by being classified into AZ31B-H24 and AZ31B-O depending on temper designation. In this study, AZ31B-H24 and AZ31B-O alloy sheets with 1.25mm thickness were butt-welded using CW Nd:YAG laser. And the effect of materials on mechanical properties was investigated by tensile and hardness tests. As a result of this study, regardless of materials, the butt-welded joint did not show a significant difference in tensile strength and hardness values. However, compared with the basemetal, the AZ31B-O showed more outstanding mechanical properties than AZ31B-H24, and that is because H24 material lost the effect of work hardening during welding.

• Laser Solutions
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.25-29
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• 2006

This study aimed to investigate the change of mechanical properties with the rolling direction and shielding condition during laser welding of AZ31 magnesium alloy. AZ31 magnesium alloy sheets of 1mm thickness were welded using a continuous wave Nd:YAG laser with and without Ar shielding gas. The effect of Ar shielding gas and rolling direction on the mechanical properties were investigated using Vickers hardness, transverse-weld tensile. Porosity in the weld metals was investigated using an optical microscope. The experimental results showed that mechanical properties of AZ31 magnesium alloy laser welds were upgraded compared to those of base metal. Mechanical properties of AZ31 magnesium alloy laser welds were not substantially changed when Ar shielding gas was supplied.

• 연구논문집
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• s.33
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• pp.137-145
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• 2003

The effects of antimony addition on the microstructures and creep behavior of AZ31 magnesium alloy have been investigated. Constant load creep tests were carried out at temperatures ranging from $150^{\circ}C$ to $200^{\circ}C$, and an initial stress of 50MPa for AZ31 alloys containing antimony up to 0.84% by weight. Results show that small additions of antimony to AZ31 effectively decreased the creep extension and steady state creep rates. The steady state creep rate of AZ31 was reduced 2.5 times by the addition of 0.84% of antimony. The steady state creep rate of AZ31-0.84Sb alloy was controlled by dislocation climb in which the activation energy for creep was 128 kJ/mole. The microstructure of as-cast AZ31-0.84%Sb alloy showed the presence of $Mg_3Sb_2$ precipitates dispersed throughout the matrix. The main reason for the higher creep resistance in AZ31-Sb alloys is due to the presence $Mg_3Sb_2$, which effectively hindered the movement of dislocations during the elevated temperature creep.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Military Science and Technology
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.315-321
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• 2012

In the study, corrosion characteristics of AZ31 magnesium alloy under various environments exposed during machining(immersion in cutting oil, 5 % cutting oil aqueous solution and distilled water & contact with dissimilar metals, SPC4 and A5052-H32) were investigated. A corrosion test was performed AZ31 magnesium alloy was immersed in each electrolyte solution after contacting with each dissimilar metals, and the results were observed by an electron microscope. In immersion tests, corrosion of AZ31 magnesium alloy showed to be in the sequence of distilled water> 5 % cutting oil aqueous solution> cutting oil> air, and in the test of contact with dissimilar metals, corrosion showed to be in the sequence of SPC4> A5052-H32> AZ31. It can be concluded that to prevent corrosion during machining, AZ31 magnesium alloy must prevent contacting water and use magnesium alloy for raw material of Jig & Fixture.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Surface Engineering Conference
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• 2017.05a
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• pp.151.1-151.1
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• 2017

This work studied the corrosion behavior of AZ31 Mg alloy galvanically coupled with Cu during immersion in 0.1 and 0.5 M NaCl solutions by in-situ observation and galvanic corrosion current measurement using a zero resistance ammeter. The corrosion behavior of AZ31 Mg alloy was also studied by salt spray test. The average galvanic corrosion density during 2 h immersion in 0.1 NaCl solution was found to decrease as an exponential function with increasing the surface area ratios between AZ31:Cu or with increasing the distance between AZ31 and Cu. The corrosion of electrodeposited Cu on AZ31 Mg alloy was concentrated at the area next to Cu (about 5 mm for immersion test and 2 mm for salt spray test) and pitting corrosion was accelerated at the area beyond the severely corroded area by the galvanic coupling effect.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Heat Treatment
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.113-119
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• 2013

Grain growth behaviors of hot-rolled AZ31 (Mg-3%Al-1%Zn) and AZ31-0.3%CaO alloys at elevated temperatures have been investigated in order to clarify the effect of CaO addition on grain stability of Mg-Al-based wrought alloy. The grain size of CaO-free alloy increased steeply from 673 K with an increase in annealing temperature from 573 to 773 K, whereas the grains of CaO-containing alloy were relatively stable up to 723 K. The activation energies for grain growth ($E_g$) were 12.2 and 18.3 kJ/mole between 573 and 673 K and 119.2 and 126.9 kJ/mole between 673 and 773 K in the AZ31 and AZ31-0.3%CaO alloys, respectively. This result indicates that grains in the CaO-added alloy possess higher thermal stability than CaO-free alloy. SEM observations on the annealed alloy samples revealed that higher grain stability resulting from CaO addition would be associated with the suppression of grain growth by Ca-related precipitate particles distributed in the microstructure.

• Corrosion Science and Technology
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.77-83
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• 2006

The plasma electrolytic oxidation (PEO) process is a relatively new surface treatment technique that produces a chemically stable and environment-friendly electrolytic coating that can be applied to all types of magnesium alloys. In this study, the characteristics of oxide film were examined after coating the extruded AZ31 alloy through the PEO process. Hard ceramic coatings were obtained on the AZ31 alloy by changing the coating time from 10min to 60min. The morphologies of the surface and the cross-section of the PEO coatings were examined by scanning electron microscopy and optical microscopy, and the thickness of the coating was measured. The X-ray diffraction pattern of the coating shows that the coated layer consists mainly of the MgO and $Mg_2SiO_4$ phases after the oxidation reaction. The hardness of the coated AZ31 alloy increased with increasing coating time. In addition, the corrosion rates of the coated and uncoated AZ31 alloys were examined by salt spray tests according to ASTM B 117 and the results show that the corrosion resistance of the coated AZ31 alloy was superior to that of the un-coated AZ31 alloy.

• Transactions of Materials Processing
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.248-255
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• 2015

The warm drawing of magnesium alloy AZ31B sheet is affected by temperature because tensile elongation is changed due to the elevated temperature. In the current study, the effect of temperature was investigated for an automotive dash panel part by both experimental and FE analysis. Tensile tests were performed to obtain mechanical properties for various temperatures. AZ31B alloy sheet shows increased total elongation with increasing deformation temperature in the range of 200 to 300℃. The heating channel inserted into the die was used to regulate and to obtain an optimal temperature. A temperature controller was constructed to reduce temperature variation. Warm drawing of magnesium alloy AZ31B was performed to produce the desired shape of the lightweight automotive dash panel. The simulated results showed good agreement with the experimental results.