Resistance Spot Welded AZ31 Magnesium Alloys, Part II: Effects of Welding Current on Microstructure and Mechanical Properties

Resistance spot welding of AZ31 magnesium alloys from different suppliers, AZ31-SA (from supplier A) and AZ31-SB (from supplier B), was studied and compared in this article. The mechanical properties and microstructures have been studied of welds made with a range of welding currents. For both groups of welds, the tension-shear fracture load (FC) and fracture toughness (KC) increased with the increase in welding current. The FC and KC of AZ31-SA welds were larger than those of AZ31-SB welds. The fracture surfaces of AZ31-SB welds were relatively flatter than those of AZ31-SA. Microstructural examination via optical microscope demonstrated that almost all weld nuggets comprised two different zones, the columnar dendritic zone (CDZ), which grew epitaxially from the fusion boundary, and the equiaxed dendritic zone (EDZ), which formed in the center of the nugget. The nature and extent of the CDZ seemed to be critical to the strength and toughness of spot welds because of its position adjacent to the inherent external circular crack-like notch of spot welds and the stress concentration in this region. The width and microstructure of the CDZ were different between AZ31-SA and AZ31-SB. The AZ31-SA alloy produced finer and shorter columnar dendrites, whereas the AZ31-SB alloy produced coarser and wider columnar dendrites. The width of the CDZ close to the notch decreased with the increase of current. The CDZ disappeared when the current was higher than a critical value, which was about 24 kA for AZ31-SA and 28 kA for AZ31-SB. The microhardness of the two base materials was the same, but within the CDZ and EDZ, the hardness was greater in AZ31-SA than AZ31-SB welds. It is believed that the different microstructures of spot welds between AZ31-SA and AZ31-SB resulted in different mechanical properties; in particular, KC increased with the welding current because of the improved columnar-to-equiaxed transition.