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WELDING RESEARCH
C. W. TAN, L. Q. LI, and Y. B. CHEN are with State Key Laboratory of Advanced Welding and Joining, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Harbin Institute
of Technology, Harbin, China. TAN is also with the Centre for Advanced Materials Joining, Department of Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering, University
of Waterloo, Waterloo N2L 3G1, Canada, along with A. M. NASIRI (amnasiri@uwaterloo.ca) and Y. ZHOU.
WELDING RESEARCH
Elements Al Zn Mn Fe Si Mg
AZ31B 2.92 1.09 0.3 0.005 0.1 Bal.
Filler 3.25 1.25 0.24 0.005 0.007 Bal.
metal
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A B
C D
Fig. 5 — Reaction layer thickness vs. heat input.
Fig. 6 — EDS line scans of Mg, Fe, Al, Zn, Mn, Cr, and Ni across the
metal, heat-affected zone (HAZ), An ultrathin steelFZ interface of the joint head at different heat inputs: A — 3
columnar crystal zone (CCZ), and reaction layer kJ/cm; B — 4.2 kJ/cm; C — 5.4 kJ/cm; D — 6.6 kJ/cm.
equiaxed crystal zone (ECZ). Grain (< 1 mm thick)
growth was found to take place in the was found at
then enriched at the interface, which
HAZ toward the fusion zone, the low heat input of 3 kJ/cm. The
induced the interfacial reaction.
especially in the vicinity of the fusion thickness in the three zones was var-
The results in Figs. 4–6 confirmed
zone. The precipitated -Mg17Al12 ied slightly due to insufficient
the feasibility of joining Mg to steel
phase was found distributed in the reaction at such a low heat input.
through interatomic diffusion of
ECZ as indicated by arrows in Fig. 3. A With the increase of the heat input,
alloying elements into each other at
more detailed microstructural analysis the thickness of the reaction layer
the interface. As shown in Fig. 4, in
of the fusion zone can be found in our grew slightly. For heat inputs of 4.2
the case of the Mg-steel dissimilar
previous study (Ref. 32). The variation and 5.4 kJ/cm, the thickness of the
metal combination, the reaction layer
of microstructure in the fusion zone reaction layer at the intermediate
could not grow too thick even with
was found to affect the fracture mode, zone was obviously larger than that at
applying excessive heat input, which
which will be discussed later. the joint head and the joint root.
was quite different compared with Al-
Note that the thickness of the
steel or Al-Ti dissimilar metal joints
SteelFZ Interface reaction layer was always below 3 μm
(Refs. 20, 21, 24, 34). In those stud-
even with the excessive heat input of
ies, it has been reported that the
Figure 4 shows SEM images in dif- 6.6 kJ/cm. It suggested that metallur-
thickness of the Fe-Al and Al-Ti inter-
ferent positions along the steel-FZ in- gical bonding at the interface was
metallic reaction layers grows signifi-
terface with variations in the heat achieved while the thickness of reac-
cantly with the increase of the heat
input. A distinct interfacial layer was tion layer was controlled below 10 mm
input. The difference could be attrib-
observed at the interface, indicating (Ref. 33), which was beneficial to the
uted to the amount of alloying
the occurrence of atomic diffusion mechanical performance of the joints.
elements involved in the interfacial
and metallurgical bonding at the Concentration profiles of the main
reaction. In joining Al to steel or Al to
interface of Mg and Fe. A alloying elements across the interface
Ti, the Al and Ti were the dominant
nonuniform, thick interfacial reaction between the fusion zone and steel
alloying elements at the steel-FZ in-
layer was formed from the joint head were obtained using EDS line
terface, which were sufficient for for-
to the root of the joint due to the scanning analyses. Figure 6 shows the
mation and growth of Fe3Al and TiAl3
temperature gradient resulting from corresponding EDS line scan results.
phases. However, in our work, with 3
the laser welding-brazing process Cr and Mn increased gradually from
wt-% Al in the filler, Al content for
(Ref. 24). The steel-FZ interfacial re- the fusion zone side to the steel side.
diffusion-controlled growth of the re-
gion was divided into three zones as Zn and Ni, however, had no
action product was limited. As a
marked in Fig. 4, i.e., joint head zone significant concentration variation
result, the reaction was restricted
(Zone A), intermediate zone (Zone B), across the interface. A high
causing the formation of the
and joint root zone (Zone C). The re- concentration of Al was found at the
ultrathin reaction layer as shown in
action layer in all zones was found to steel-FZ interface in all applied heat
Fig. 4. At the same time, the fast
exhibit a continuous morphology and inputs. The results indicated that the
heating and cooling rates experienced
its thickness at different heat inputs Al atoms diffused from molten filler
during the LWB process also limited
was measured and plotted in Fig. 5. metal into the steel-FZ interface and
the diffusion-controlled growth of
WELDING RESEARCH
B A B
A
C
C
Fig. 7 — STEM image and STEMEDS analyses results: A —STEM Fig. 8 — TEM investigation of the Mgstainless steel inter
micrograph taken from the interface of the Mgsteel dissimilar face: A — Bright field image taken from the interface; B–D
joint; B — STEMEDS mapping from the region indicated in A; C— — SADPs of the interfacial reaction phases.
STEMEDS line scan results.
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A B C A
D E F
G H I
diffraction pattern (SADP) taken from phase was present occasionally at the fracture loads of the laser brazed
the interface of steel-FZ. The ultra-thin interface. To be exact, the Al19Mn4 AZ31B Mg-stainless steel joints at var-
reaction layer was composed of three and Fe(Al) phases should be ious heat inputs. It was evident that
different nanoscale phases as shown in considered as the newly formed inter- the heat input had a significant influ-
the bright field TEM image in Fig. 8A. facial phases during LWB of Mg to ence on the tensile-shear strength of
The phase on the steel substrate was stainless steel. the joints. The strength of the joint
found to exhibit a uniform and continu- produced with the low heat input of 3
ous morphology followed by an irregu- Mechanical Properties kJ/cm was quite low giving rise to in-
lar-shaped phase in the fusion zone. terfacial failure. When the heat input
The corresponding STEM-EDS Hardness Distribution increased to 4.2 kJ/cm, the joint frac-
analysis results are shown in Table 4. ture load was enhanced to 1878 N, and
Combined with the indexed SADP re- The hardness distribution values of the calculated joint efficiency was
sults, shown in Fig. 8B–D, the phases the FZ, Mg HAZ, and the Mg base 57.3% with respect to the fracture load
from the fusion zone toward the steel metal of the joints at different heat in- of the Mg base metal. The fracture lo-
were identified as Mg17(Al,Zn)12 IMC puts are plotted in Fig. 9. The cation was at the Mg HAZ indicating a
with body-centered-cubic (BCC) hardness of the HAZ was lower than strong steel-FZ interface. The strength
structure, Al19Mn4 with BCC that of the base metal due to HAZ varied slightly with further increase in
structure, and Fe(Al) solid solution softening as a result of grain coarsen- the heat input. The fracture load
again with BCC crystal structure, re- ing and dissolution of strengthening reached the maximum value of 2471 N
spectively. Some of the Al atoms in precipitates induced by the thermal at the heat input of 5.4 kJ/cm, repre-
the Mg17Al12 phase have been cycle during the LWB process (Refs. senting 75.4% joint efficiency relative
replaced by Zn atoms. This phase is a 35, 36). A slight increase in the hard- to the Mg base metal.
typical precipitate in the AZ series of ness of the FZ, which was probably at- Figure 11 shows the SEM
Mg alloys and was produced in the fu- tributed to the higher volume fraction micrographs of the fracture surfaces
sion zone with a divorced eutectic of the Mg17Al12 precipitates in the FZ with different fracture behaviors. For
structure, since the two eutectic (shown in Fig. 3), was also found. the dissimilar Mg-steel joints with in-
phases (a-Mg + b-Mg17Al12) were sep- terfacial failure mode, the fracture sur-
arated from each other during the so- TensileShear Strength and Fracture face of the steel side was observed
lidification. A similar observation has Behavior using the backscattered electrons
been reported in laser brazing of Mg (BSE). Three different phases were
to Al coated steel (Ref. 27). This Figure 10 shows the tensile-shear identified at the fracture surface in
WELDING RESEARCH
E F Thermodynamic Analyses
Figure 12 shows the calculated
pseudo-binary system between the
Mg alloy (filler metal composition)
and stainless steel composition over
the temperature range of 400° to
1000°C using the Phase Diagram
module of FactSage. This diagram was
used to identify the phase(s) that
might form along the steel-FZ inter-
face at different temperatures during
Fig. 13 — The activitycomposition diagrams for possible phases formed at the the laser welding-brazing process.
AZ31 Mgstainless steel interface at the following: A — 1100°C; B — 900°C; C — These possible phases were Al8Cr5,
700°C; D — 600°C; E — 500°C; F —400°C. Al61Fe31, Mg2Ni, Al3Ni, FeAl, Al5Fe2,
and Al19Mn4. All the phases were
Fig. 11B. The gray matrix was residual an interfacial fracture. When fracture found to be binary phases. In the
Mg from the fusion zone attached to occurred in the Mg HAZ, the fracture next step, the most stable phase pre-
the steel side. A relatively bright phase morphology was characterized by dim- cipitated from the liquid at a specific
was also observed distributed on the ples together with some cleavage-like temperature and composition should
surface. A significant amount of parti- flat facets, which were characteristics be identified, by finding which phase
cles were found at higher magni- of a ductile fracture — Fig. 11E. The has the highest driving force to form
fication, as shown in the inset of Fig. strengthening particles were observed from the fusion zone.
11B. According to the EDS analysis re- at higher magnification as indicated by For a binary compound AxBy that
sults, this phase contained 18.9 at.-% an arrow in Fig. 11F, which contained forms from pure liquid components
Al and 81.1 at.-% Fe, representing 58.4 at.-% Al and 41.6 at.-% Mn and [A] and [B], the reaction process for
Fe(Al) solid solution. In addition, a were thus identified as Al-Mn phases formation of this compound from the
dark phase was also evidenced at the by EDS analysis (Al8Mn5, typical of the filler metal-steel system in the laser
fracture surface as indicated by AZ series of Mg alloys). welding-brazing process could be
arrows. Energy-dispersive X-ray spec- With the excessive heat input, the expressed as follows:
trometer examination of this phase joint fractured in the fusion zone due
confirmed that it contained 12.8 at.-% to severe evaporation of the fusion x[A] + y[B] AxBy (s) (1)
K and 13.8 at.-% Cl, suggesting that zone, which caused a decrease in the
some of the flux was trapped in the in- joint width as well as porosity forma- In order to predict what phases
terface during the process. This tion close to the steel-FZ interface. were stable under different conditions,
trapped flux in the steel-FZ interface Porosities formed mainly close to the the change of Gibbs free energy, G, of
degraded the mechanical strength of joint root zone, since the maximum the reaction shown in Equation 1
the joint significantly and resulted in temperature in this area was higher should be calculated. A negative G
WELDING RESEARCH
= − RTln
(
a Ax B y ) (2)
⎛ a ( Al3 Ni ) ⎞ 4 filler (x = 0) and an initial position on
= − RTln ⎜ 3 ⎟ (5) the filler-steel interface (x = 1). In the
a x ([ A ]) a y ([ B ]) ⎝ a ([ Al ]) a ([ Ni ]) ⎠ temperature range of 700° to 1100°C,
Fe(Al) was predicted to be the first and
only precipitated phase from the
where R is the universal gas constant, Similarly, 0.66 mole Mg + 0.33 mole liquid. However, in the temperature
T is the absolute temperature (K), and Ni would form 0.33 mole of Mg2Ni range of 400°–600°C, Al19Mn4 was pre-
a is the chemical activity of each phase with a change of Gibbs free energy of dicted to be the first precipitated
(Ref. 37). For 1 mole of the elements,
phase from the liquid close to the
we have
ΔGTo ,( Mg filler. Then FeAl solid solution with
2/3 Ni1/3 ) BCC crystal structure formed in
x y 1
[ A] + [ B] → Ax B y( s ) (3) 1 between the Al19Mn4 and steel.
x+y x+y x+y ⎛ a ( Mg 2 Ni ) ⎞ 3 Using this calculation procedure, a
= − RTln ⎜ 2 ⎟ (6) phase stability map was plotted in
Therefore, ⎜⎝ a ([ Mg ]) a ([ Ni ]) ⎟⎠
Fig. 14 to show the first precipitated
ΔGTo , A phases from the liquid at different
( x / x + y By / X + y ) temperatures and compositions dur-
1 0.826 mole Al + 0.174 mole Mn ing the laser welding-brazing process.
⎛
= − RTln ⎜ x
a Ax B y ( ⎞ x+ y
⎟
)(4)
would form 0.043 mole of Al19Mn4
with a change of Gibbs free energy of
This phase stability map indicated
⎜⎝ a ([ A ]) a y ([ B ]) ⎟⎠ that the BCC-Fe(Al) phase would pos-
sibly form over a large composition
ΔGTo ,( Al range from 0.04 to 100% of mass
The chemical activity of [A] and [B] 19/23 Mni4/23 ) fraction of stainless steel. Al19Mn4
in the liquid state can be obtained for 1 would form immediately adjacent to
a given local temperature and compo-
sition. Thus, the chemical activity of
⎛ a ( Al19 Mn4 ) ⎞ 23 the filler when the temperature
= − RTln ⎜ 19 ⎟ (7) dropped below 600°C.
A xBy(s) could be calculated once GoT ⎝ a ([ Al ]) a ([ Mn]) ⎠
4
These calculation results have con-
was obtained from the databases
WELDING RESEARCH
firmed the formation of solid solution 11. Nasiri, A. M., Weckman, D. C., and
Acknowledgments Zhou, Y. 2013. Interfacial microstructure
Fe(Al) on the steel surface followed by
Al19Mn4 IMC. The calculation results of diode laser brazed AZ31B magnesium to
were in good agreement with the TEM This work is supported by a special steel sheet using a nickel interlayer. Weld-
foundation for Scientific and Technical ing Journal 92: 1-s to 10-s.
analyses results shown in Fig. 8.
Innovation, Harbin (Grant No. 12. Elthalabawy, W. M., and Khan, T. I.
2010. Microstructural development of dif-
Conclusions 2012RFLXG028). One of the authors
(C. W. Tan) is grateful for the financial
fusion-brazed austenitic stainless steel to
magnesium alloy using a nickel interlayer.
support provided by the China Schol- Materials Characterization 61: 703–712.
1) Dissimilar AZ31B Mg alloy and
arship Council for studying in the Uni- 13. Elthalabawy, W. M., and Khan, T. I.
201 stainless steel sheets were joined
versity of Waterloo, Canada. 2010. Eutectic bonding of austenitic stain-
successfully by a laser welding-brazing
less steel 316L to magnesium alloy AZ31
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WELDING RESEARCH
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Correction: