The Effect of SiC Particle Addition During FSW on Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of AZ31 Magnesium Alloy

Welding and joining of magnesium alloys exert a profound effect on magnesium application expansion, especially in ground and air transportations where large-size, complex components are required. Due to specific physical properties of magnesium, its welding requires great control. In general, the solid-state nature of friction stir welding (FSW) process has been found to produce a low concentration of defects. In the current research, specimens from AZ31 magnesium alloy were welded together using the friction stir process with previously inserted SiC powder particles in the nugget zone. In other words, during the FSW process, the pre-placed SiC particles were stirred throughout the nugget zone of the weld. The results indicated that proper values of rotation and translation speeds led to good appearance of weld zone and suitable distribution of SiC particles producing increased weld strength. The comparison of the microstructures and mechanical properties of FS-welded AZ31 with those of FS-welded one using pre-placed SiC particles showed that the addition of SiC particles decreased the grain size and increased the strength and the formability index.