Temperature field modeling and experimental study on ultrasonic consolidation for Al-Ti foil

Abstract

Additive manufacturing technology for ultrasonic consolidation (UC) makes use of the properties of piezoelectric transducers, which produce high-frequency vibrations. When applied to metal foil surfaces, these vibrations help form solid-phase bonding between metals under certain pressure. To obtain better consolidation process parameters, samples of 0.2-mm-thick Ti-6Al-4V titanium alloy, and 6061 aluminum alloy were consolidated with the UC method; and temperature modeling and experiments of consolidation joints were carried out. First, the temperature field model of UC for Al-Ti foil was established, based on the temperature field theory of the UC system, and the transient temperature field distribution was obtained by finite element analysis. The highest temperature of the consolidation system was mainly concentrated on the contact area between the sonotrode and the foil, as well as the foil and the substrate, and it gradually decreased along with the feed direction. Then, the temperature of Al-Ti foil was measured by thermocouple, and the maximum temperature was measured and compared with the simulated value. The experimental results show that the appropriate UC force for Al-Ti foil is 2.0–3.0 kN, the effect of the oscillator amplitude on the temperature of the consolidation interface is greater than that of the consolidation pressure, and the oscillator amplitude is greater than 40 μm. The above process parameters can facilitate the effective consolidation of Al-Ti foil.