Process analysis for magnetic pulse welding of similar and dissimilar material sheet metal joints

Magnetic pulse welding (MPW) is an impact welding technology for producing metallic bonds of similar and dissimilar materials offering advantages such as avoidance of temperature induced problems. Based on the parameters describing the collision of the joining partners, specifically the impact angle and impact velocity, so-called welding windows describe whether or not welding will be successful for a specific material combination. However, as in MPW collision parameters depend on equipment and setup dependent parameters, using these welding windows for process design requires knowledge about the adjustment of the collision parameters via the adjustable process parameters. Therefore, the influence of adjustable process parameters on collision parameters and resulting weld quality is analyzed and trends, for a target oriented process and joint design, are deduced. Specifically, joining of copper to aluminum, copper to copper, aluminum to copper and aluminum to stainless steel is regarded.