SUMMARY
The fatigue properties of welded butt joint and base metal of MB8 magnesium alloy were investigated. The comparative fatigue tests were carried out using EHF-EM200K2-070-1A fatigue testing machine for both welded butt joint and base metal specimens with the same size and shape. The fatigue fractures were observed and analyzed by a scanning electron microscope of 6360 LA type. The experimental results show that the fatigue performance of the welded butt joint of MB8 magnesium alloy is sharply decreased. The conditional fatigue limit (1×107) of base metal and welded butt joint is about 69.41 and 32.76 MPa, respectively. The conditional fatigue limit (1×107) of the welded butt joint is 47.2 % of that of base metal. The main reasons are that the welding can lead to stress concentration in the weld toe area, tensile welding residual stress in the welded joint, as well as grain coarsening in the welding seam. The cleavage steps or quasi-cleavage patterns present on the fatigue fracture surface, indicating the fracture type of the welded butt joint belongs to a brittle fracture.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.ms.22.3.9132