Producing joints of aluminum and copper by means of fusion welding is a challenging task. However, the results of various studies have proven the potential of friction stir welding (FSW) for manufacturing aluminum-copper joints. Despite the proven feasibility, there is currently no series application in automotive industry to produce aluminum-copper joints for electrical contacts by means of FSW. To make FSW as efficient as possible for large-scale production, maximized welding speed is desired. Taking this into account, this paper presents results of a parametric investigation, the objective of which was to increase the welding speed for FSW of aluminum and copper in comparison to welding speeds that are considered to be state of the art. Taguchi method was used to design an experimental plan and target figures of the investigations were the resultant tensile strengths and electrical resistances. Dependencies between input parameters and target figures were determined systematically. The optimal welding parameters, at which joints failed in the weaker aluminum material, included a welding speed of 700 mm/min. Consequently, it could be shown that joints with a performance similar to those of the base materials can be obtained using significantly higher welding speeds than reported in the relevant literature.
Although the joining of aluminum and copper is a difficult task, several studies have shown that friction stir welding (FSW) is capable of producing aluminum-copper-joints with excellent performance. Therefore, it is desirable to use this joining technique for the production of cost- and weight-reduced conductors for the automotive sector. The exposed copper contact spots in automobiles are usually coated with tin for design reasons and in order to improve their corrosion resistance. In this context, it is possible to perform the weld at first and to coat afterwards, or to weld already coated copper workpieces. Taking this into account, this paper presents results on the influence of copper-sided tinning on the joint formation as well as the achievable mechanical and electrical properties of friction stir butt welded aluminum-copper joints. Two variants were considered. The first variant included copper blanks with a tinned surface. For the second variant the surface and the abutting edge of the copper were coated. The best welds achieved excellent electrical properties and their tensile strength was only slightly reduced compared to the aluminum base material. Thus, it was shown that if these tensile strength losses are acceptable, FSW of aluminum to tin coated copper is applicable.
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