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Joining Aluminum Alloy to Steel by Resistance Projection-Plug Welding

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Abstract

In order to improve the joining performance between aluminum alloy and steel, a method termed resistance projection-plug welding was tried to weld steel to aluminum alloy. The microstructure and properties of the joint obtained by this method under various welding parameters were analyzed. Scanning electron microscopy studies of the interfacial microstructures revealed that a reaction layer, consisting of Fe2Al5 adjacent to steel and FeAl3 adjacent to aluminum alloy, is formed in the interface outside the nugget. The maximum tensile shear and cross-tension loads of the joint reached 6.92 and 4.13 kN, respectively, in comparison with 5.0 and 1.4 kN, respectively, for resistance spot welding with a cover plate. The results revealed that the resistance projection-plug welding is an effective method for welding steel and aluminum alloys.

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Acknowledgments

The authors gratefully acknowledge funding from the Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 51875177) and the International Cooperation Project of Henan Province (Grant No. 182102410066).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Materials Science and Engineering, Henan University of Science and Technology, Luoyang, 471039, China

    Kexu Ren, Ranfeng Qiu, Hengbo Ma & Hongxin Shi

  2. Collaborative Innovation Center of Nonferrous Metals, Luoyang, 471039, Henan Province, China

    Kexu Ren & Hengbo Ma

  3. Henan Key Laboratory of Non-ferrous Materials Science and Processing Technology, Luoyang, 471003, China

    Ranfeng Qiu & Hongxin Shi

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  1. Kexu Ren
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  2. Ranfeng Qiu
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Correspondence to Ranfeng Qiu.

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Ren, K., Qiu, R., Ma, H. et al. Joining Aluminum Alloy to Steel by Resistance Projection-Plug Welding. J. of Materi Eng and Perform 29, 4087–4094 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11665-020-04893-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11665-020-04893-9

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