Composite Aluminum-Copper Sheet Material by Friction Stir Welding and Cold Rolling

Abstract

An aluminum alloy and a pure copper material were butt-joined by friction stir welding and subsequently cold rolled. The cold-rolling operation proved to be very advantageous because small voids present after friction stir welding were closed, the interface area per material thickness was enlarged, a thin intermetallic layer was partitioned, and the joint was strengthened by strain hardening. Tensile test specimens fractured in the heat-affected zone in the aluminum material; tensile strengths of the joints exceeded the tensile strengths of the base materials and were as high as 335 MPa. During soft annealing of the composite material, a 6-8-μm-thick intermetallic layer was grown at the interface. Nevertheless, tensile fracture still occurred in the heat-affected zone of the aluminum material. Electrical resistivity of the joint was smaller than resistivity of the aluminum material. Production of such composite material would result in coiled sheet material that could be subjected to further treatments such as electroplating and forming operations in an efficient and economically viable manner. The new composite material is promising for emerging automotive and industrial electrical applications.