Effect of thermal tempering on microstructure and mechanical properties of Mg-AZ31/Al-6061 diffusion bonding

The objective of this study is to investigate the effect of the types thermal tempering of aluminum alloy on microstructure and mechanical properties of AZ31-O Mg and Al 6061-T6 diffusion bonding. Using Optical Microscope (OM) and Scanning Electron Microscopes (SEM) equipped with EDS analysis and line scan the interfaces of joints were evaluated. The XRD analysis was carried out to characterize phase constitution near the interface zone. The mechanical properties of joints were measured using Vickers micro-hardness and shear strength. According to the results in bonding of AZ31-Mg/Al-6061-O, in less plastic deformation in magnesium alloy, diffusion rate of most magnesium atoms occurred to aluminum alloy and formation of diffusion zone with minimum micro-hardness (140 HV) and maximum shear strength (32 MPa) compared to Al 6061-T6/Mg-AZ31 bonding. Evaluation of fracture surfaces indicates an occurrence of failure from the brittle intermetallic phases.