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Microstructure and mechanical performance of flat resistance element welded aluminum alloy/Q235 steel joints

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Abstract

Among recently developed joining technologies, resistance element welding (REW) is an effective process for joining hybrid materials. In this study, Al alloy/Q235 steel joints were produced via a flat REW (FREW) technique. The FREW joint was lighter than the traditional REW joint, and no bulges existed on the surface of the specimen. The process was performed using two methods with different positions of sheets and rivets: upward FREW (UFREW) and downward FREW (DFREW). The microstructure and tensile shear performance of the joints obtained via FREW were investigated. The maximum peak tensile shear loads of the UFREW and DFREW joints were 5537 N and 5656 N, respectively; and their maximum energy absorption values were 20.98 J and 16.55 J, respectively. The failure mode of the FREW joints changed from interface failure, to pull-out, and then to base material pull-out modes with an increase in welding current.

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Change history

Abbreviations

REW:

Resistance element welding

FREW:

Flat resistance element welding

RSW:

Resistance spot welding

UFREW:

Upward flat resistance element welding

UFREW:

Downward flat resistance element welding

IF:

Interface failure

PO:

Pull-out failure

BPF:

Base material pull-out failure

SPR:

Self-pierce riveting

BM:

Base material

HAZ:

Heat-affected zone

UCHAZ:

Upper-critical heat-affected zone

ICHAZ:

Inter-critical heat-affected zone

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Funding

This work was supported by the Joint Fund for Aerospace Advanced Manufacturing Technology Research Key Program (Grant No. U1937203) and the Joint Funds of the Natural Science Foundation of Shaanxi Province (Grant No. 2019JLP-06).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Mechanical Engineering, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xianning West Road, 710049, Xi’an, China

    Liangyu Fei, Shengdun Zhao, Peng Zhang, Zhiyan Feng, Fei Jiang & Hao Zhou

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  1. Liangyu Fei
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  2. Shengdun Zhao
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  3. Peng Zhang
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  4. Zhiyan Feng
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  5. Fei Jiang
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  6. Hao Zhou
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Contributions

Liangyu Fei and Shengdun Zhao contributed to the study’s conception and design. Material preparation and data collection and analysis were performed by Liangyu Fei and Peng Zhang. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Liangyu Fei. Zhiyan Feng, Fei Jiang, and Hao Zhou commented on previous versions of the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Shengdun Zhao.

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The original online version of this article was revised: Affiliation was revised: "Xian JiaoTong University" as "Xi’an Jiaotong University", "street" as "Xianning West Road", "Xian" as "Xi’an".

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Fei, L., Zhao, S., Zhang, P. et al. Microstructure and mechanical performance of flat resistance element welded aluminum alloy/Q235 steel joints. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 120, 6337–6349 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-022-09104-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-022-09104-4

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