Galvanic corrosion of AZ31B joined to dual-phase steel with and without Zn layer by ultrasonic and friction stir welding

Galvanic corrosion of AZ31B joined with bare or Zn-coated DP590 steel by ultrasonic spot welding or linear friction stir welding was quantitatively studied by pre-defining anode and cathode in the lap joint samples. Corrosion volume and depth from Mg anode surfaces exposed to 0.1 M sodium chloride solution was analyzed as functions of cathode surface type and welding method. Characterization of as-welded joints was performed to identify any microstructural feature of the bonding zone that could impact galvanic corrosion behavior.COMSOL modeling with modified user subroutine was conducted to simulate the progression of Mg corrosion in the same joint and electrode configurations used for the corrosion experiments. The experimental results indicated that Zn-coated cathode surface can reduce Mg galvanic corrosion significantly as galvanic polarization and cathodic current on Zn-coated surface remained relatively low for Mg in the weld joints.COMSOL modeling described the growth of Mg galvanic corrosion in a reasonable manner but showed limitation by underestimating the corrosion volume as it did not capture self-corrosion.

Mechanical joint performances of friction self-piercing riveted carbon fiber reinforced polymer and AZ31B Mg alloy

Carbon fiber reinforced polymer(CFRP) and AZ31B Mg alloy were joined by the friction self-piercing riveting(F-SPR) with different steel rivet shank sizes. With the increase of rivet shank size, lap shear fracture load and mechanical interlock distance increased. Ultrafine grains were formed at the joint in AZ31B as a result of dynamic recrystallization, which contributed to the higher hardness. Fatigue life of the CFRP-AZ31B joint was studied at various peak loads of 0.5, 1, 2, and 3 kN and compared with the resistance spot welded AZ31B-AZ31B from the open literature. The fatigue performance was better at higher peak load(>2 kN) and comparable to that of resistance spot welding of AZ31B to AZ31B at lower peak loads(<1 kN). From fractography, the crack initiation for lower peak load(<1 kN) case was observed at the fretting positions on the top and bottom surfaces of AZ31B sheet. When peak load was increased, fretting between the rivet and the top of AZ31B became more dominant to initiate a crack during fatigue testing.

Study of galvanic corrosion and mechanical joint properties of AZ31B and carbon-fiber–reinforced polymer joined by friction self-piercing riveting

A new testing methodology was developed to quantitively study galvanic corrosion of AZ31B and thermoset carbon-fiber–reinforced polymer spot-joined by a friction self-piercing riveting process.Pre-defined areas of AZ31B in the joint were exposed in 0.1 M NaCl solution over time.Massive galvanic corrosion of AZ31B was observed as exposure time increased.The measured volume loss was converted into corrosion current that was at least 48 times greater than the corrosion current of AZ31B without galvanic coupling.Ninety percent of the mechanical joint integrity was retained for corroded F-SPR joints to 200 h and then decreased because of the massive volume loss of AZ31B。