Influence of copper interlayers on the magnetic pulse welding process between aluminum and steel

Magnetic pulse welding (MPW) is a promising joining technology for the large-scale production of dissimilar metallic joints. Although the heat input is comparatively low, the temporary occurrence of high temperatures in the joining gap was found to play an important role during the joint formation. It is possible that the melting or even the boiling temperature of the involved materials will be exceeded, and fusion welding will occur. The purpose of this study is to investigate the influence of target materials with different thermal properties on the joint formation and weld seam characteristic. Therefore, MPW between steel targets and aluminum flyers was performed with and without copper coatings on steel. The lower melting temperature of copper compared to steel had no significant effect on the appearance of the mixed zones in the interface and the amount of molten target material or aluminum, respectively. Nevertheless, the comparison of the higher impact energies showed, that the copper interlayer can lead to a decrease in the weld length or a degradation of the weld quality due to an extended intermetallic phase formation or cracks. This result is important for the parameter adjustment of magnetic pulse welding processes.