Resistance spot welding aluminium to magnesium using nanoparticle reinforced eutectic forming interlayers

ABSTRACT

Successful joining of dissimilar metals such as Al and Mg can provide significant advantages to the automotive industry in the fabrication of vehicle bodies and other important components. This study explores dissimilar joining of Al–Mg using a resistance spot welding process to produce microstructurally sound lap joints and evaluates the impact of interlayer composition on microstructural evolution and the formation of intermetallic compounds within the weld nugget. The results indicated that mechanically sound joints can be produced, with fine equiaxed and columnar dendrites within the weld nugget. The presence of intermetallic compounds was also confirmed by the variation in the microhardness values recorded across the weld zone.

KEYWORDS:

• Magnesium
• aluminium
• resistance spot welding
• Ni coating
• dissimilar welding
• nanostructured interlayer

Acknowledgements

The authors thank Mr. Perry Rushby at Bradford College and Mr. Chhibubhai Mistry from the University of Bradford for assisting with the spot welding equipment and technical discussions.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.