Microstructural formation and mechanical performance of friction stir double-riveting welded Al-Cu joints

A novel friction stir double-riveting welding(FSDRW) technology was proposed in order to realize the high-quality joining of upper aluminum(Al) and lower copper(Cu) plates,and this technology employed a Cu column as a rivet and a specially designed welding tool with a large concave-angle shoulder. The formations, interfacial characteristics, mechanical properties and fracture features of Al/Cu FSDRW joints under different rotational velocities and dwell times were investigated. The results showed that the well-formed FSDRW joint was successfully obtained.The cylindrical Cu column was transformed into a double riveting heads structure with a Cu anchor at the top and an Al anchor at the bottom, thereby providing an excellent mechanical interlocking.The defect-free Cu/Cu interface was formed at the lap interface due to the sufficient metallurgical bonding between the Cu column and the Cu plate, thereby effectively inhibiting the propagation of crack from the intermetallic compound layer at the lap interface between the Al and Cu plates. The tensile shear load of joint was increased first and then decreased when the rotational velocity and dwell time of welding tool increased, and the maximum value was 5.52 k N. The FSDRW joint presented a mixed mode of ductile and brittle fractures.

Achieving High‑Quality Aluminum to Copper Dissimilar Metals Joint via Friction Stir Double‑Riveting Welding

In order to achieve a high-quality joining of aluminum(Al)and copper(Cu)dissimilar metals,a new friction stir doubleriveting welding(FSDRW)with a Cu rod as the rivet was proposed,and the rotating tool with a large concave angle shoulder was specially designed.The results showed that under the thermal–mechanical effect of rotating tool,the Cu rod was deformed to be a double riveting heads structure with a Cu anchor at the upper surface of Al plate and an Al anchor above the lap interface of joint,and these two anchors greatly enhanced the mechanical interlocking of Al/Cu joint.The effective bonding interfaces were formed among the double riveting heads structure,the upper Al plate and the lower Cu plate,which contained the Cu/Cu interface and the Al/Cu interface.The Cu/Cu interface without the kissing bond and the Al/Cu interface with the rationally thin AlCu and Al_(2)Cu intermetallic compounds(IMCs)layers were beneficial to heightening the joint tensile shear strength.The maximum tensile shear load of the FSDRW joint achieved 5.52 kN,and the joint under different plunging depths of rotating tool presented a mixed mode of ductile fracture and brittle fracture.This novel FSDRW technique owns the advantages of strong mechanical interlocking and superb metallurgical bonding,and provides a new approach to acquiring a high-quality Al/Cu dissimilar metals joint.