Investigation on the Electron Beam Welding of Al/Cu Composite Plates

The Al/Cu composite plates composed of 2.5 mm thick Al base plate and 0.5 mm thick Cu cladding plate were joined by electron beam welding (EBW). The butt joints of Al/Cu composite plates were obtained successfully in Modes I (Cu cladding plate was placed upon the Al base plate, welding speed of 1400 mm/min) and II (Al base plate was placed upon the Cu cladding plate, welding speed of 1300 mm/min), respectively. The results showed that microstructures under two modes were similar, but there existed some obvious differences in fracture behavior of the joints and damage behavior of Cu cladding plate. For two butt joints, the (Al2Cu + alpha-Al) eutectic structure was distributed in continuous networks around the alpha-Al grains in the weld zone. In addition, the interface between Cu cladding plate and weld zone was composed of Al2Cu intermetallic compound and (Al2Cu + alpha-Al) eutectic structure. The destruction width of Cu cladding plate was greater in Mode I than that in Mode II. Furthermore, the average loads of the EBW joints were 4.8 kN and 4.5 kN in Modes I and II, respectively.