Title: Lap Fillet Welding of Thin Sheet AZ31 Magnesium Alloy with Pulsed Nd:YAG Laser
Abstract: In recent years, reducing the size and weight of consumer products requires the joining of thin sheets of magnesium alloys with both thickness and joining area of less than 1mm, especially for packaging purposes. Conventional welding processes are difficult to joint a thin sheet magnesium alloy because of high heat input, which in turns leads to various problems such as burn through and cracks. In this study, lap fillet welding of thin sheet magnesium alloy AZ31B with a thickness of 0.3 mm has been carried out using a pulsed Nd:YAG laser beam. The influences of gap, laser beam center location and scan speed on joint appearances have been investigated. It was found that defects were significantly reduced when the gap width was less than 35 µm when the laser beam center was located just on the edge of the upper specimen (x=0), and scan speed was varied from 400 to 450 m/min. Wider bond width at average value of 300 µm was achieved when the beam center was at x=0 with a wide range of scan speeds from 250 to 450 mm/min compared with the cases at x=-0.1 and -0.2 mm from edge. Increases in bond width and minimal defects at x=0 improve fracture load by 68% compared with those at x=-0.1 mm.