The significance of intermetallic compounds formed during interdiffusion in aluminum and magnesium dissimilar welds
Diffusion couples between Al-AA6111 and Mg-AZ31 have been used to perform a comprehensive review of the IMC phases that develop in this system, including; their growth kinetics, texture, residual stresses, and mechanical properties. The new observations made have been compared to data in the literature with the aim of providing an in-depth understanding of the detrimental effects of interfacial reaction in aluminum–magnesium dissimilar welding. Three Al–Mg binary IMC phases were identified, γ-Al{sub 12}Mg{sub 17} and β-Al{sub 3}Mg{sub 2}, as well as ε-Al{sub 30}Mg{sub 23}, which has not been previously reported in inter-diffusion studies. The β phase had the highest growth rate and became the dominant constituent of the IMC layer at longer reaction times. The ε-phase only appeared after extended heat treatment, via transformation at the Al{sub 12}Mg{sub 17}/Al{sub 3}Mg{sub 2} interface. Intrinsic diffusion coefficients of Al and Mg, calculated in the Al{sub 3}Mg{sub 2} phase, confirmed that Al is the faster diffusing species (by an order of magnitude) during IMC growth. Indentation techniques showed that all the IMC phases had extremely low toughness (1/2 ). FIB-assisted ring core milling revealed that both the β-Al{sub 3}Mg{sub 2} and γ-Al{sub 12}Mg{sub 17} phases contained large residual stresses. Their in-situ fracture toughness was consequently found to be asymmetric with lower values parallel to the joint interface. Greater tensile residual stress was measured in the β-Al{sub 3}Mg{sub 2} phase, which, combined with a lower toughness and more rapid growth kinetics, explains why it is generally the ‘weak link’ in Al–Mg dissimilar joints.