Cold-pressing deformation characteristics of steel–aluminum sheets joining

In order to overcome the deficiencies of the traditional connection of dissimilar sheet metals, a new method “cold-pressing deformation joining” was proposed. By using finite element simulation software DEFORM™-3D, the joining process of the pure aluminium and stainless steel was simulated while the sample size is 100 mm×30 mm and the thicknesses are 1 mm and 0.5 mm, respectively. The results indicate that the punching load presents an increasing trend with the increase of the punch downward displacements. The thickness of stainless steel sheet decreases gradually from the centre to the two sides in the process. In contrast, the thickness of aluminum sheet changes a lot. Experimental scheme and simulation are in good agreement. The unidirectional tensile test demonstrates that with the increase of punch downward displacements, the average thickness of connection area decreases while the connection strength increases before decreasing. The thicknesses in gauge length of connection are not uniformly distributed and the position 15 mm away from the aluminum end shows the largest thickness.