Abstract
This paper presents a concept to develop a practical method to join dissimilar materials by the cold spray process currently not possible with conventional technologies. The novel aspect of the process includes the development of a joint design using cold spray as the enabling technology to join dissimilar materials. The emphasis in this study will be on the method used in the joining of cast ZE41A-T5 magnesium and wrought 6061 aluminum by the cold spray process (CSP) in combination with friction-stir welding (FSW) and the subsequent materials characterization. Microstructural analysis by electron and optical microscopy, along with mechanical test results will be presented. Comparisons will be made to conventional joining techniques and the importance, as well as the applications of this technique, will be discussed.