Combined Laser Beam Welding and Brazing Process for Aluminium Titanium Hybrid Structures

The current state of the art in light-weight construction is – for the case of aircraft structures – the use of either aluminium or titanium. Whereas aluminium is light-weight and less expensive, titanium offers superior corrosion properties at higher cost. In order to combine the advantages of both materials, a hybrid Ti-Al structure is proposed for e.g. seat-track application. In this paper, an overview of the results from this research work and the accompanying thermo-mechanical simulations will be reported and discussed. On the basis of the development of an appropriate system technology, the process development will be described, focusing on the main influencing parameters of the process on joint properties.