Advanced welding technologies for magnesium alloys

Easily automated welding techniques are pre-requisite for their acceptance in the automotive industry. The acceptance of Mg alloys in this industry to replace heavier alloys depends therefore on the development of dependable automatic welding techniques for these alloys. Four advanced and easily automated welding techniques have been used to study the weldability of various magnesium alloys. Two of the welding techniques - Magnetic Pulse Welding (MPW) and Friction Stir Welding (FSW) are characterized as solid state welding methods, while the other two - Laser Beam Welding (LBW) and Electron Beam Welding (EBW) are characterized as intense energy welding methods. The integrity of the welds was checked by radiographic and ultrasonic techniques. The welded samples were further examined by standard metallographic techniques using both optical and scanning microscopy. The mechanical properties were studied using micro-hardness and tension tests. The results obtained in this study show that defect free welds could be obtained in magnesium alloys by all of the aforementioned welding technologies.