Impact Welding of Aluminum to Copper and Stainless Steel by Vaporizing Foil Actuator: Effect of Heat Treatment Cycles on Mechanical Properties and Microstructure

This work studies the mechanical property effect of microstructure on impact welds of aluminum alloy AA6061 with both copper alloy Cu 110 and stainless steel AISI 304. AA6061-T6 and T4 temper aluminum sheets of 1 mm thickness were launched toward copper and stainless steel targets using the vaporizing foil actuator technique. Flyer plate velocities, measured via photonic Doppler velocimetry, were observed to be approximately 800 m/s. The welded aluminum-copper samples were subjected to instrumented peel testing, microhardness testing, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, and scanning electron microscopy. The welded joints exhibited cracks through their continuous intermetallic layers. The cracks were impeded upon encountering a ductile metallic wave. The welds created with T6 temper flyer sheets were found to have smaller intermetallic-free and wavy interface regions as compared to those created with T4 temper flyer sheets. Peel strength tests of the two weld combinations resulted in failure along the interface in the case of the T6 flyer welds, while the failure generally occurred in the parent aluminum for the T4 temper flyer welds. Half of the T4 flyer welds were subjected to aging for 18 h at 433 K (160 °C) to convert the aluminum sheet to the T6 condition. Although the aged flyer material did not attain the hardness of the as-received T6 material, it was found to be significantly stronger than the T4 material. These welds retained their strength after the aging process, and diffusion across the interface was minimal. The welded aluminum-stainless steel samples were analyzed on a more basic level than aluminum-copper samples, but were found to exhibit similar results.