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Increasing usage of magnesium and aluminum light metals in the transportation industry has made joining of these two metals one of the challenges for researchers and engineers. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between mechanical properties of lap friction stir welded Al-Mg plates and characteristics of the interface. Therefore, joining of aluminum and magnesium in various conditions were conducted. Optical and scanning electron microscopy analysis, micro-hardness test and tensile tests were performed on samples. The results showed that in the joints which Mg was on top, approximately 10 micron thick layer of intermetallic compounds is created, while in the Al-top joints, approximately 1 mm thick intermetallic compounds with solidified microstructure was visible. Mechanical test showed Mg-top joint have higher strength in comparison with Al-top joint. On the other hand hardness test of Mg-top joint showed more fluctuation than Al-top joint. Microstructural investigation also showed that in the Mg-top joint, formation mechanism of intermetallic compounds has occurred in solid state while in the Al-top joint, in addition to diffusion in solid state, eutectic formation in the molten state and solidification has occurred.

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Friction stir welding (FSW) has many advantages in welding dissimilar joints in comparison with fusion welding methods. In this study, weld ability of butt joint of 5052 aluminum alloy and Ti-6Al-4V titanium alloy by FSW process has been studied and discussed. The welding was successfully performed by using a tool with frustum pin. The influences of both rotational and traverse speed of welding tool on mechanical properties are investigated. The results show that the metallurgical and mechanical properties improve by choosing appropriate parameters. The highest tensile strength of 260 MPa was obtained at rotational speed of 500 rpm and a 40 mm/min traverse speed, which was ~ 94% of the aluminum base metal tensile strength. As a result of increasing the rotational speed from 500 to 1000 rpm, high heat input can forms cracks at joint area. In rotational speed of 1000 rpm, increasing traverse speed from 40 to 56 mm/min leads to a sound joint with 192 MPa of tensile strength. This decreasing in tensile strength can be related to the formation of intermetallic compounds such as TiAl3, along the entire interface between the two alloys

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The 5052 aluminum alloy was lap joined to Al-1050 clad steel sheet (with Al-1050 thickness of 1mm) using gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW) process with 4047 Al-Si filler metal at the welding currents of 80, 100 and 120 A. Effect of welding current was studied on the weld microstructure, intermetallic compounds layer and tensile strength of the joints. Microstructural studies were done using optical and scanning electron microscopes (SEM) equipped with energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) and tensile strength of the joints was determined by shear-tensile test. Results shows that the reaction layer included two Al3Fe and Al5Fe2 intermetallic phases formed at the interface of the St-12 base sheet and Al-1050 clad layer. Maximum average thickness of the reaction layer was ~3.5 µm .It seems that presence of Al-1050 layer prevents excessive growth of Al-Fe intermetallic layer. The joint tensile strength decreased almost linearly by enhancement of the welding current and the primary α-Al dendrite arm spacing increased and Al-Si eutectics were distributed more uniformly. As a result, the crack easily grows and fracture force reduces. The maximum tensile strength of the joints reached to ~190 MPa, i.e. ~80% of 5052-H34 aluminum base metal strength. During the shear-tensile test, fracture in all the joints was started from the root of the weld and then propagated inside the weld metal with an angle of ~70 with respect to the Al-1050 base sheet. Stress analysis in weld showed that fracture in the joint was controlled predominantly by the maximum normal stress.