In this study, the fatigue behavior of AZ31 magnesium friction stir spot welded joints is experimentally investigated. The friction stir spot welds employed here are representative of preliminary welds made in developing the joining process for potential use in automobile manufacturing. Load control cyclic tests were conducted on single weld lap-shear coupons and were fatigued until failure to determine stress-life properties. The fractured coupons were examined under optical and scanning electron microscopes with the intent to determine fatigue crack characteristics. Fractography analysis suggests that long crack growth accounts for a majority of the fatigue life. To predict the fatigue life of the lap-joint coupons, a long crack growth modeling approach, based on a kinked crack stress intensity solution, was employed. The fatigue model predictions compared well to the experimental stress-life results.
