TY - JOUR

T1 - Joining with electrochemical support (ECUF)

T2 - Cold pressure welding of copper

AU - Ebbert, C.

AU - Schmidt, H. C.

AU - Rodman, D.

AU - Nürnberger, F.

AU - Homberg, W.

AU - Maier, H. J.

AU - Grundmeier, G.

N1 - Funding information: The authors thank the German Research Foundation (DFG) for supporting research on the ECUF process within the SPP 1640 framework. Special thanks go to M. Pfitzner from the Institute of Production Engineering and Machine Tools of the Leibniz Universität Hannover for performing the SEM/EDX analysis and to I. Giner (TMC) for the AFM roughness measurements.

PY - 2014/4/24

Y1 - 2014/4/24

N2 - Joining metals using electrochemical support (ECUF) is a new process for cold pressure welding sheets and parts. This new process is based on an electrochemical in-line surface treatment followed by incremental pilger rolling. The ECUF process intends to cold pressure weld materials under optimized conditions. Oxide layers on metal surfaces are known to inhibit the formation of cold pressure welds. The in-line electrochemical treatment will be used to remove these surface oxides for specific engineering metals and alloys. Hence, an improved pressure weld formation at lower forces and smaller reduction ratios is expected for the electrochemically treated surfaces. Using a more flexible pressure welding process, the number of applications could be greatly improved. First tests with copper were performed to analyse the efficiency of the proposed electrochemical surface treatments. Two electrochemical treatments, the cathodic oxide-reduction and cyclovoltammetric oxide-reduction, were compared with conventional treatments (degreasing and scratch brushing) regarding their influence on the cold pressure welding process of copper. The weld strength of lap welds has been investigated as well as the necessary reduction threshold to form a weld. It was found that the electrochemical oxide reduction resulted in higher weld strength. The results of scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive analysis of X-rays (EDX) indicate that surface oxides were successfully removed by the electrochemical surface treatments.

AB - Joining metals using electrochemical support (ECUF) is a new process for cold pressure welding sheets and parts. This new process is based on an electrochemical in-line surface treatment followed by incremental pilger rolling. The ECUF process intends to cold pressure weld materials under optimized conditions. Oxide layers on metal surfaces are known to inhibit the formation of cold pressure welds. The in-line electrochemical treatment will be used to remove these surface oxides for specific engineering metals and alloys. Hence, an improved pressure weld formation at lower forces and smaller reduction ratios is expected for the electrochemically treated surfaces. Using a more flexible pressure welding process, the number of applications could be greatly improved. First tests with copper were performed to analyse the efficiency of the proposed electrochemical surface treatments. Two electrochemical treatments, the cathodic oxide-reduction and cyclovoltammetric oxide-reduction, were compared with conventional treatments (degreasing and scratch brushing) regarding their influence on the cold pressure welding process of copper. The weld strength of lap welds has been investigated as well as the necessary reduction threshold to form a weld. It was found that the electrochemical oxide reduction resulted in higher weld strength. The results of scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive analysis of X-rays (EDX) indicate that surface oxides were successfully removed by the electrochemical surface treatments.

KW - Cold pressure welding

KW - Copper

KW - Surface activation

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84902267715&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1016/j.jmatprotec.2014.04.015

DO - 10.1016/j.jmatprotec.2014.04.015

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:84902267715

VL - 214

SP - 2179

EP - 2187

JO - Journal of Materials Processing Technology

JF - Journal of Materials Processing Technology

SN - 0924-0136

IS - 10

ER -