Int J Adv Manuf Technol (2010) 49:527–534

DOI 10.1007/s00170-009-2443-7

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Joining of aluminium and copper materials

with friction welding
Mumin Sahin

Received: 1 July 2008 / Accepted: 10 November 2009 / Published online: 27 November 2009
# Springer-Verlag London Limited 2009

Abstract Industrial use of non-ferrous materials is signi- conductivity. However, welding of copper and aluminium
ficant in the electrical and the chemical engineering by conventional fusion welding processes is usually
applications. Copper–aluminium joints are inevitable for difficult because both of these materials have higher
certain applications due to unique performances such as thermal diffusivity than many steel alloys. Thus, friction
higher electric conductivity, heat conductivity, corrosion welding, a solid-state welding technique, is applied to the
resistance and mechanical properties. Friction welding is joined copper and aluminium [1].
the most common method used due to material and energy In friction welding, heat is generated by conversion of
saving. In the present study, copper and aluminium mechanical energy into thermal energy at the interface of
materials were joined by friction welding. Optimum the work pieces during rotation under pressure. Generally,
parameters were obtained using a statistical approach. friction welding can easily be used to join components that
Tensile and microhardness tests were applied to the joints. have circular or non-circular cross sections. Friction time,
Micro- and macrophotographs were examined. Energy friction pressure, forging (upset) time, forging (upset)
dispersive X-ray analysis was used to determine the phases pressure and rotation speed are the most important
that occurred during welding. A grey layer was observed at parameters in friction welding. Economy of the materials,
the fracture surfaces of welded parts. It was considered that low production time and low energy expenditure are some
this layer decreased the strength of the joints. of the other advantages of friction welding [2].
In practice, friction welding can be applied in two ways;
Keywords Welding strength . Friction welding . Copper . continuous drive friction welding and inertia friction
Aluminium welding [3, 4]. In the continuous drive method shown
(Fig. 1), one of the components is held stationary while the
other is rotated at a constant speed (s). The two components
1 Introduction are brought together under axial pressure (Pf) for a certain
period of friction time (tf). Then, the clutch is separated
The most important problem in friction welding of from the drive, and the rotary component is brought to a
dissimilar materials is a brittle intermetallic phase at the stop within the braking time while the axial pressure on the
joint interface. This is due to the fact that the intermetallic stationary part is increased to a higher upset pressure (Pu)
phase existing at joint interface reduces the strength of the for a predetermined period of upset time (tu). Parameters of
welded parts. Aluminium and copper are replacing steels the method are shown in Fig. 2.
in electricity supply systems due to higher electric In the inertia welding, the second component is held
stationary, while one of the components is clamped to a
spindle chuck, usually attached to fly wheels. The fly wheel
and chuck assembly is rotated to a certain speed (s) to store
M. Sahin (*)
a predetermined amount of energy. Then, the drive to the
Mechanical Engineering Department of Trakya University,
22180 Edirne, Turkey flywheel is declutched, and the two components are
e-mail: mumins@trakya.edu.tr brought together under axial pressure (Pf). Friction between
528 Int J Adv Manuf Technol (2010) 49:527–534

Fig. 1 Layout of continuous 1. Motor

drive friction welding 2. Brake
3. Rotating Chuck
4. Non Rotating Chuck
5. Rotating Workpiece
6. Non Rotating Workpiece
5 6 7. Hydraulic Cylinder
1 2
3 4 7

the parts decelerates the flywheel converting stored energy 2 The experimental procedure
into frictional heat [1].
Vill, Kinley and Fomichev [2–4] studied friction welding 2.1 Material
set-up and strength of the joints. Murti et al. [5] carried out
parameter optimisation in friction welding of dissimilar The composition of copper and aluminium materials used
materials. Yılbas et al. [6] investigated the mechanical and are given in Tables 1 and 2.
metallurgical properties of friction-welded steel–aluminium
and aluminium–copper bar using factorial analysis. Yılbas 2.2 Geometry of parts
et al. [7] also studied properties of friction-welded
aluminium bars. Rhodes et al. [8] examined microstructure The specimens were machined according to the geometry in
of 7,075 aluminium using friction stir welding. Fig. 3.
Akata and Sahin [9] investigated the effects of dimen-
sional differences in friction welding of AISI 1040 speci- 2.3 The experiment set-up
mens using statistical analysis and suggested optimum
parameters for AISI 1040 steel having different diameters. A set-up was designed and constructed according to the
Sahin and Akata [10] also studied joining plastically principles of continuous drive-welding machines. A drive
deformed steel (carburising steel) using friction welding. motor with 4 kW power and 1,410 rpm was selected as
Ouyang et al. [10] investigated microstructural evolution in adequate taking into account the friction and the upset
friction stir welding of 6,061 aluminium alloy (T6-temper pressures required for the torque capacity in friction
condition) and copper. welding of steel bars within 10 mm diameter. Friction and
Surface cleanliness in terms of contaminants, especially upset pressures can be observed on pressure indicator, and
grease, reduces the quality of joints. Therefore, the ends of the stages of the welding sequence are controlled by
the parts were cleaned of contaminants such as oil and solenoid valve driven by an external timer.
oxide by using acetone prior to the experiments. In the Friction time, friction pressure and upset pressure have a
present study, copper and aluminium materials were welded direct effect on the tensile strength of joints. Linear
using friction welding. Optimum parameters were obtained statistical analysis was used in order to study the effect of
using statistical analysis. Tensile and microhardness tests these factors [5, 6, 11].
were applied to the joints. Micro- and macrophotographs of
the joints were examined.
3 Selection of welding parameters using statistical
approach

Braking An analysis must be carried out on results that have been

Friction Time (tf)
accumulated as part of a test programme or as a series of
related test programmes and an empirical predictive model
Parameters

Upsetting
Time (tu) must be constructed from the results obtained. Terms for
Rotation Speed (s) Upsetting possible inclusion in the model might involve not only the
Pressure (Pu)
principal variables but also variables such as cross products,
Friction Pressure (Pf) squares or other combinations or transformations of the
Torque principal variables [10, 11].
Shortening The basis of this approach is the assumption of a
simplified linear model for the optimisation parameter η
Welding
Welding
Started Time Completed given by h ¼ b0 þ b1 x1 þ b2 x2 þ, where x1, x2 ......., etc,
are the factors on which η depends and β0, β1, β2...., etc,
Fig. 2 Parameters for continuous drive friction welding represent the ‘true’ values of the corresponding unknowns.