Abstract
In order to reduce the weight of parts in the automobile and electronic industries, various research on dissimilar welding techniques of aluminum and steel is being carried out. Since dissimilar materials have different physical and electrochemical characteristics, joining through conventional fusion welding is challenging, and there is a high probability of a decrease in strength of the welded joints. To solve this problem, a mechanical fastening method is mainly applied to join dissimilar parts with different material properties, but this process has disadvantages in terms of productivity improvement and cost reduction because additional consumables, such as rivets, are required. In this research, we investigated the optimization of the weld bonding conditions of joints using epoxy-based adhesive bonding and DeltaSpot welding for Al/Fe dissimilar materials. For each experimental condition, the corrosion resistance and tensile shear strength of the welded joints were evaluated according to salt spray test times of 0 h, 640 h, 1280 h, and 1920 h. As a whole, as the salt spray test time increased, the tensile shear strength of the welded joints decreased. It was confirmed that weld bonding, after manual polishing of the aluminum side, resulted in the highest average tensile shear strength of 5.88 kN at 1920 h, which was an increase compared with other conditions.
Highlights
IntroductionThe use of lightweight materials such as aluminum and magnesium alloys has been increasing steadily, with the aim of realizing weight reduction of vehicle bodies [1,2]
In the automotive industry, the use of lightweight materials such as aluminum and magnesium alloys has been increasing steadily, with the aim of realizing weight reduction of vehicle bodies [1,2].In the case of joining between aluminum alloys and steels by a conventional fusion welding process, the generation of Fex Aly brittle intermetallic compounds at the joining interface is unavoidable, and the joining strength is greatly lowered [3,4]
The spot welded specimens were subjected to a salt spray test, and a tensile shear test was performed on the specimens after the corrosion test ended to compare the apparent shear strength of a single-lap joint-welded specimen by tension loading
Summary
The use of lightweight materials such as aluminum and magnesium alloys has been increasing steadily, with the aim of realizing weight reduction of vehicle bodies [1,2]. In the case of joining between aluminum alloys and steels by a conventional fusion welding process, the generation of Fex Aly brittle intermetallic compounds at the joining interface is unavoidable, and the joining strength is greatly lowered [3,4] To minimize this problem, friction stir spot joining and mechanical fastening processes such as the self-pierce riveting method have been tried in automotive industries [5,6,7,8,9,10]. The reason for using the process tape in a DeltaSpot welding machine is to transfer the welding current while protecting the contact surfaces of the electrodes from contamination by aluminum, zinc, or organic residues This protection results in a significantly increased service life for the electrodes. The spot welded specimens were subjected to a salt spray test, and a tensile shear test was performed on the specimens after the corrosion test ended to compare the apparent shear strength of a single-lap joint-welded specimen by tension loading
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