Joining of dissimilar metals by diffusion bonding: Titanium alloy with aluminum

This paper presents a novel diffusion bonding process of commercially pure aluminum to Ti-6Al-4V alloy at 520, 560, 600 and 640 °C for 30, 45 and 60 minutes under argon gas shielding without the use of interlayer. The approach is to overcome the difficulties in fusion welding of dissimilar alloys. Diffusion bonding is a dissimilar metal welding process which can be applied to the materials without causing any physical deformations. Processed samples were metallographically prepared, optically examined followed by Vickers microhardness test and subjected to tensile test in order to determine joint strength. Scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive spectroscopy were used in this work to investigate the compositional changes across the joint region. Elemental composition of the region has been successfully defined between titanium alloy and aluminum. The maximum tensile strength was obtained from the samples bonded at the highest temperatures of 600 and 640 °C.