Fatigue behavior of AZ31B magnesium alloy electron beam welded joint undergoing cyclic loading was investigated by infrared thermography. Temperature evolution throughout a fatigue process was presented and the mechanism of heat generationwas discussed. Fatigue limit of the welded joint was predicted and the fatigue damage was also assessed based ontheevolution of the temperatureand hotspot zone on the specimen surfaceduring fatigue tests. The presented results show that infrared thermography can not onlyquicklypredict the fatigue behavior of the welded joint, but also qualitatively identify the evolution of fatigue damage in real time. It is found that the predicted fatigue limit agrees well with the conventionalS-Nexperimental results. The evolution of the temperatureand hotspot zone on the specimen surface can be an effectivefatigue damage indicatorfor effectiveevaluationof magnesium alloy electron beam welded joint.
