• 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.

• 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.

• 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.

• Proceedings of the KWS Conference
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• 2002.05a
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• pp.106-108
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• 2002

• Journal of Welding and Joining
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.53-57
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• 2004

Friction stir weldability of AZ31B-H24, AZ61A-F and AZ91C-F Mg alloys were studied using microstructural observation and mechanical tests. The microstructure of stir zone(SZ) was coarse in AZ31B-H24 alloy whereas it was very fine both in AZ61A-F and AZ91C-F alloys. The hardness of SZ was remarkably increased by very fine recrystallized grains both in AZ61A-F and AZ91C-F alloys. On the other hand, the hardness of SZ was decreased in AZ31B-H24 due to the coarse microstructure. In SZ, AZ91C-F alloy showed very high hardness values because of dispersion hardening of $Mg_{17}$Al$_{12}$($\beta$ phase) and Al solid solution hardening. Because of more $Mg_{ 17}Al_{12}($\beta$ phase)$ intermetallic compounds, Mg alloy with high Al content showed poor mechanical properties.s.

• Journal of Welding and Joining
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• v.26 no.6
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• pp.54-58
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• 2008

Laser welding with AZ61 filler wire was carried out to improve formability though reduction of porosity and formation of under fill bead. Optimum welding condition and mechanical properties of butt joint for $400{\times}500{\times}1.3mm$ magnesium sheets were studied. Optimal welding conditions of laser power, welding speed, and defocusing length are 1000W, 3m/min, and 2mm, respectively. Results of tensile test indicated that both tensile strength and elongation of specimens welded with filler wire were improved at room temperature because of reduction of porosity and under-filled bead formation in addition to the precipitation hardening and microstructure refinement by Al-Mn and Mg-Al-Zn precipitates. At elevated temperature of $200{\sim}350^{\circ}C$, fracture location of tensile specimen was shifted from weld metal to base metal, indicating less softening of weld metal than base metal.

• Journal of Welding and Joining
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• v.20 no.5
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• pp.87-92
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• 2002

Weldability of Friction Stir Welded(FSW) AZ31B-H24 Mg alloy sheet with 4m thick was evaluated by changing welding speed. The sound welding conditions mainly depended on the suffiicient welding heat input during the process. The insufficient heat input resulted in the void like defect in the weld zone. Higher welding speed caused a larger inner void or lack of bonding. The defects were distributed at the stir zone or the transition region between stir zone and thermo-mechanical affected zone (UE). The size of defects slightly increased with increasing welding speed. These defects had a great effect on the joint strength of weld zone. The weld zone was composed of stir zone, TMAZ and heat affected zone. The stir zone was cosisted of fine recrystallized structure with $5-8\mu\textrm{m}$ in the mean grain size. The hardness of weld zone was near the 60HV, which was slightly lower than that of base metal. The maximum joint strength was about 219MPa that was 75% of that of base metal and the yield strength was also lower than that of base metal partly due to the existance of defects.

• Proceedings of the KWS Conference
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• 2007.11a
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• pp.322-324
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• 2007

Nd:YAG laser welding of AZ31B-H24 magnesium alloy was carried out using AZ61 filler wire(Mg-6wt%Al-1wt%Zn). Microstructure and mechanical properties of welded joint were examined by optical microscopy, scanning electronic microscopy(SEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy(EDS), electron probe micro analyzer(EPMA) and victors hardness, tensile test at the room and elevated temperature. Test results indicate that the specimens welded with AZ61 filler wire have better tensile strength, elongation and victors hardness at room temperature than those of welded without filler wire. However tensile strength are similar but elongation are quite different at elevated temperature.

• Journal of Welding and Joining
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.56-61
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• 2004

Friction stir weldability of AZ31B Mg alloy was studied using microstructural observation and mechanical tests. Defect free joints was obtained under the condition of 2000rpm-100mm/min. In TMAZ, a lot of twin deformation were observed due to the mechanical effect of the FSW tool and thus relatively high hardness was obtained. In SZ, the twin deformation was disappeared by recovery and the hardness decreased because the. grain structure was coarsened by dynamic recrystallization and grain growth. The Al-Mn precipitates were observed throughout the joint regions. On the other hand, $$\beta$-Mg_{17}Al_{12}$ intermetallic compounds were not observed in either of the zone. The joint efficiency was about 80% and the impact value of the joint was almost equal to that of base metal.

• Proceedings of the KWS Conference
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• 2003.11a
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• pp.256-258
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• 2003

Hot-rolled and Extruded plates of AZ type magnesium alloys were successfully joined by friction stir welding(FSW). AZ31B-H24 and AZ61 plates with the thickness of 4mm were used, and the microstructural development in the stir zone were investigated using optical and scanning electron microscopes. The grain size of base metal and stir zone were investigated using the line-intersecter method. Hardness of the stir zone was remarkably increased due to very fine recrystallized grain structure both in AZ3l and AZ6l alloys. Tensile strengths of the FS welded Mg alloys AZ31 and AZ61 were strongly affected by formation of the intermetallic compounds, ${\beta}$-Al$\sub$12/Mg$\sub$17/.