Joining of aluminium alloy to pre-holed carbon steel by aluminium extrusion using friction spot method

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to join sheets of an aluminium alloy together with pre-holed carbon steel via friction spot technique.

Design/methodology/approach

An AISI 1006 steel sheet was a pre-holed with a 4.8 mm diameter and put under AA5052 sheet with a lap joint configuration. The joining process was carried out by extruding the aluminium through the steel hole using a rotating tool of 10 mm diameter. Furthermore, three process parameters (pre-heating time, rotating speed and plunging depth of the tool) with three values for each parameter were used to study their effects on the joints quality. In order to join samples, nine experiments were designed according to a Taguchi method. Shear strength, microstructure and X-ray diffraction tests of the joint were carried out.

Findings

The joining mechanism occurred by a mechanical interlock of the extruded aluminium with the inner surface of the steel hole. The tool plunging depth had a significant effect on the shear strength of the joint. The shear strength of two joints exceeded the shear strength of the wrought material (AA5052). All samples failed with two modes: pull-out and shearing of the extruded aluminium.

Originality/value

For the first time, the extrusion technique was used to join AA5052 sheet together with pre-holed carbon steel, with a perfect joint efficiency.

Citation

Abdullah, I.T., Hussein, S.K. and Hussein, A.K. (2020), "Joining of aluminium alloy to pre-holed carbon steel by aluminium extrusion using friction spot method", International Journal of Structural Integrity, Vol. 11 No. 6, pp. 849-860. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJSI-10-2019-0112