Joining Experiment of Aluminum Sheets Using High-Speed Shearing

Abstract

A novel method for joining of sheet edges was investigated. It makes use of the sheared faces under high-speed. The temperature remarkably elevates and the material softens in the thin severely deformed layer. The cut faces are contacted each other with sliding motion immediately after shearing. Sheet materials are a pure aluminum A1050 and its alloy A5052. Two similar sets of circular shearing punch, die and sheet are concentrically stacked in the device for performing the simultaneous shearing. The upper sheared circular sheet slides into the hole of the lower one for joining shortly after the shearing. Strain-rate order was about 104/s in shearing, where the punches were driven by a drop-weight. Quasi-static test was also conducted for comparison. Joining was achieved only in the high-speed test. Joining boundary was not visible at the central portion in thickness, though the gap openings were seen near both sheet surfaces. Joining efficiency was evaluated as the relative strength to the tensile strength of the material. It was improved as the shearing clearance becomes smaller. The maximum efficiency was about 30 % for A1050 material. It is about 25 % for A5052. It was at most 10 % in the joining of A1050 and A5052.