On the Formability of Ultrasonic Additive Manufactured Al-Ti Laminated Composites

Ultrasonic additive manufacturing (UAM), different from most of additive manufacturing technologies, enables manufacturing of composite parts consisting of two or more materials. The current study focuses on mechanical characterization of Al-Ti laminated composites. For this purpose, first, Al-Ti laminates were built onto a 1.527-mm-thick aluminum substrate by means of UAM with different number of layer configurations (e.g., 1,3,5 bi-layers). Then, fabricated samples were subjected to uniaxial tensile and biaxial hydraulic bulge tests at the different temperatures, deformation rates, and sample orientations. Results yielded different failure mechanisms and distinct mechanical properties depending on the test type, condition, and number of bi-layer configurations. For example, delamination was observed for 3 bi-layer sample configuration while curling was experienced at elevated temperature tests due to different thermal conductivity properties of Al and Ti. The highest strain value of 0.46 was obtained at 573 K (300 °C) temperature for 5 bi-layered tensile test samples.