Experimental and numerical investigation of the solid cold-welding properties of the APB process of Al/Cu bulk composites

Abstract Nowadays, the use of bimetallic laminates with special capabilities is increasing and has experienced high growth. These properties include high mechanical properties, corrosion resistance, lightweight, and thermal stability. Among the technologies of multilayer composite materials, Accumulative Press Bonding (APB) as a solid-phased method of welding is one of the most common techniques for the production of multilayer composites. One of the most important aims for this choice is the press pressure, which can create a strong and suitable mechanical connection between produced metal layer components. In this study, the APB method has been used to produce bimetal aluminum/copper bulk composites as its novelty for the first time. After that, the effect of pressing parameters such as strain and number of layers on the stress distribution has been investigated. The shear stress among the layers reached 4 MPa for the samples with eight layers which is a good condition to generate a successful bonding. With increasing the thickness reduction ratio, the stress applied to the layers has also increased. As the thickness decreases, the interlayer shear stresses also increase which leads to a better bonding between layers. With increasing the thickness reduction ratio, the amount of layers sinking in each other was greater than before, which led to the crushing of copper layers along the entire length of the sample. During the process, as the number of passes increased, the volume of virgin material in the direction of the press rose, which led to increased compaction and better adhesion of Al and Cu layers to each other. The bonding strength enhances from 47 to 95 N for samples manufactured with one and four cycles of APB due to the increment of virgin metal normal to the pressing direction showing a 102% enhancement.