Transient liquid phase bonding of magnesium alloys AZ31 using nickel coatings and high frequency induction heat sintering

Transient liquid phase (TLP) bonding process was applied to join magnesium alloy AZ31 samples with minimum microstructural changes. The magnesium samples were coated by 5 μm nickel prior to the TLP bonding. Bonding conditions of 8 MPa uniaxial pressure and 520 °C bonding temperature were applied for all bonds at various bonding times. The microstructure across the joint regions was examined as a function of bonding time (5–60 min). Investigating the change in Ni contents was examined by EDS line scan. It was noticed that Ni coating could not be observed by SEM for bonds made at 30 and 60 min due to complete dissolution of the Ni coating. Second phase particles containing Mg2Ni intermetallics were observed by X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) near the joint region. The shear strength of the bonds initially increases with the increase in bonding time till 20 min. On the other hand, with bonding times over 20 min the shear strength decreases. Therefore the optimum bonding time at the conditions applied was concluded to be 20 min.