Influence of the Arrangement of Materials and Microstructural Analysis During FSW of AZ80A & AZ91C Mg Alloys

The main objective of this paper is to produce defect free weldments with improved properties during friction stir welding of dissimilar Mg alloys. The influence of the anisotropic arrangement of materials when AZ80A Mg alloy is taken as advancing side and AZ91C Mg alloy as retreating side and vice versa with respect to their mechanical properties and microstructural characteristics were investigated. The effects of various FSW parameters on the quality of these joints were also analyzed and best optimized FSW parameters were suggested. Defect free sound joints with excellent mechanical properties were produced when AZ80A Mg alloy was positioned at retreating side. At the same time, it seems a little bit difficult to obtain good quality joints with the contrary arrangement of materials. These investigations revealed that materials having inferior plastic deformability must be kept at the advancing side to obtain sound joints during FSW of dissimilar alloys of Magnesium.