Metallurgical joining of immiscible system: Pure Mg and pure Fe

Abstract

Understanding the metallurgical joinability of pure Mg and pure Fe and their interfacial microstructure lays the foundation for deciphering the complicated mechanism of joining various magnesium alloys and steels in applications. Pure Mg and pure Fe were successfully joined to form a metallurgical bond for the first time using the friction stir assisted scribe technique. Through detailed characterization, we found that the two immiscible metals are bonded by a critical interfacial oxide layer that spans only ~40 ± 10 nm. We present the first direct experimental evidence of the presence of an Mg/Fe oxide-rich interfacial layer using high-resolution electron microscopy and discuss the contribution of oxide formation toward a successful joining mechanism.