Mass transfer trends and the formation of a single deposition spot during high-energy micro-arc alloying of AZ31 Mg alloy

High-energy micro-arc alloying (HEMAA) utilizes high-current electrical pulses of short duration to modify the metal surface. Material transfer from electrode to substrate is one of the especially important phases of the HEMAA process. In the present paper, a Mg–Nd magnesium alloy electrode was applied to a AZ31 substrate under different parameter settings to determine the effect of parameter settings on the cathode mass gain (CMG), materials transfer coefficient (MTC), anode mass gain (AMG) and the single-pulse deposition spots. A physical model named “splash and gasification” was proposed and confirmed by the experimental results. And similar morphology of the single deposition spots was obtained.