The cold welding of copper to aluminum using equal channel angular extrusion (ECAE) process

In this research, it is shown that the production of bimetallic Al/Cu rod by cold ECAE process is feasible. The mechanism of the cold weld between the copper sheath and aluminum core is assessed using the characteristics of the mating surfaces both theoretically and by examining the SEM micrographs of the peeled surfaces. It is shown that the stretch produced by the shear strain in the process leads to the fracture of the work-hardened layer of the mating surfaces and then by extruding the virgin metal through the cavities of the cracks a cold weld is developed between the sheath and core of the rod. To achieve the cold weld, a threshold surface stretch of about 59% is required. It is shown that the decrease in die angle leads to a higher welding strength. Moreover, the presence of outer angle (ψ) impairs the quality of the weld.