committee

The joining of aluminum is widely used in aircraft construction. Connections with aluminum are also playing an increasingly important role in automotive construction. Today, aluminum is one of the most widespread material partners when it comes to mixed construction methods; this applies to both the aircraft construction and automotive construction application areas. The trend is increasingly toward new and more efficient joining concepts with the associated processes. For steel, for example, completely different joining methods are sometimes used, which cannot always be transferred to the requirements of aluminum mixed joints. In this case, however, understanding the material-technical interrelationships is often the decisive challenge for high-performance and cost-efficient joints. The Working Group Mixed Joints with Aluminum has set itself the goal of answering questions relating to materials technology in order to help overcome these challenges. The basic thematic focus of the working group "Mixed Compounds with Aluminium" is the materials engineering analysis of aluminium-dominated mixed compounds produced using different joining methods. The material behavior under mechanical and thermal load as well as under corrosion conditions is examined as a function of the conditions of the joining processes used. The focus is on the characterization and analysis of the materials and the composite properties, including failure behavior. In this context, the material-technical comparison of the different joining methods for aluminium mixed compounds plays an important role in the evaluation of the solutions found.

Key activities of the Working Group

Considered materials in combination with aluminium alloys: The focus is on other metals such as steel, Mg-, Ti-, Cu-alloys but also with other strongly different aluminium alloys, plastics and fiber-reinforced plastics, but only if of special interest (reference to expert committee "Hybrid Materials and Structures").
Joining methods: thermal (welding, brazing, casting), thermomechanical (forming, diffusion bonding), mechanical (bolting, thread forming, riveting, bolting, clinching), adhesive (seal bonding, structural bonding (curing, non-curing)).
Characterization of compounds: mechanical materials testing, materials engineering analysis and evaluation of the base materials of the joining partners, their interfaces and any joining elements used, as well as the mechanical, thermal and corrosive load-bearing capacity of the overall compounds, consideration of the materials engineering interaction between process and joint quality, taking into account the joint mechanisms.
Model description of the damage and failure behavior of mixed compounds with aluminium.

Functional orientation of the Working Group

Against the background of thematic overlaps with other expert committees and working groups, the working group "Mixed Compounds with Aluminium" sees itself in the function of a "bridging working group", which coordinates the exchange of information with other expert committees and working groups tailored to the thematic orientation of the working group. Through the organized exchange of information with other expert committees and working groups, further cooperation is sought.