Electromagnetic Crimping in Tube-to-Cylinder Configuration: Influence of the Base Profiles on the Joint Quality

Abstract

Abstract Electromagnetic crimping is a high-speed impact joining technique. In this paper, Al 1050 tubes were successfully joined on the steel 1020 rod. Three types of profiles were created on the steel rod for crimping the aluminum tube. The profiles on the steel rod created were plain, knurled, and threaded. The variation in the joint strength and the microstructure of the joint with the change in profile was analyzed and compared. For joint strength comparison, pull-out tests were carried out. The result of the pull-out test revealed that the threaded profile on the steel rod gives the highest strength in comparison to the other profiles. The microstructure of the obtained joint showed that there was no gap between the Al tube and the steel rod at 5.3 kJ of discharge energy. There was an increase in the micro-hardness of the analyzed layers compared to the base materials. The reason for the increase was probably due to deformation of the tube layer during electromagnetic crimping and their strain hardening. Surface roughness (Ra) values of the crimped samples at 5.3 kJ were analyzed, and it was found that the Ra value of the sample crimped on the threaded base was highest among threaded, knurling, and plain base samples.