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Process Robustness of Laser Braze-Welded Al/Cu Connectors

Article  in  SAE International Journal of Alternative Powertrains · April 2016

DOI: 10.4271/2016-01-1198

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 2016-01-1198

Process robustness of laser braze-welded Al/Cu connectors

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Abstract
Laser welding of dissimilar metals such as Aluminum and Copper,
which is required for Li-ion battery joining, is challenging due to the
inevitable formation of the brittle and high electrical-resistant
intermetallic compounds. Recent research has shown that by using a
novel technology, called laser braze-welding, the Al-Cu
intermetallics can be minimized to achieve superior mechanical and
electrical joint performance. This paper investigates the robustness of
the laser braze-welding process. Three product and process
categories, i.e. choice of materials, joint configurations, and process
conditions, are studied. It is found that in-process effects such as
sample cleanness and shielding gas fluctuations have a minor
influence on the process robustness. Furthermore, many pre-process
effects, e.g. design changes such as multiple layers or anodized base
material can be successfully welded by process adaption. The
minimization of the interface gap is identified as the most significant Figure 1: Battery assembly based on Li-ion cells with Cu and Al electrodes.
influence of process stability. The specimen were validated by
mechanical lap shear tests and metallographic analysis. Dissimilar materials are difficult to join due to their different
physicochemical characteristics, e.g. Aluminum and Copper are
considered as not weldable by conventional welding techniques. The
Introduction fusion joining of Aluminum and Copper causes a seam between both
materials, where binary alloys are formed. These Intermetallic
The development of sustainable and energy-efficient electric drive Compounds (IMC) are usually brittle and have less shear strength
vehicles is considered the key challenge for future automotive properties and a low conductivity factor [2], e.g. the electric
industry. The performance of new electric vehicles depends on the resistance of Al-Cu IMCs is about 8 times greater than the electric
power and capacity of the energy storage. Hence, the manufacturing resistance of the base materials. There is a critical width of the IMC's
of battery assemblies is one competitive technology for the at which the connection still shows a ductile behavior and the losses
deployment of electric cars. in strength and conductivity are strongly reduced. According to [3],
this width must be less than 2.5 microns.
Today, battery pack assemblies consist of hundreds to thousands of
battery cells which need to be joined robustly and economically. For Existing joining techniques enable the production of those dissimilar
electrochemical reasons one cell consist of electrolyte, separator and connectors, e.g. ultrasonic welding [4] or frictions stir welding [5].
two electrodes with unequal electronegativity. For Lithium-ion cells, Current reviews of different joining techniques can be found in [6]
the cells with highest energy density, the current collectors are and [1]. However, laser welding techniques are showing high
usually aluminum and copper (see figure 1). The connectors between potential for joining Aluminum and Copper [7 and 8]. Lasers are
the electrodes are manufactured using various materials, e.g. Al or frequently used in high volume applications and offer high
Cu. During assembly, various thickness and number of electrodes automation opportunity through its low inertia positioning system and
need to be joined for performance requirements and manufacturing contact less power delivery, as described by the authors in [9] and
efficiency [1]. [10]. Novel laser processing techniques control the energy input to
reduce the interaction of the joining materials, whereby the IMC
seam thickness is minimized [11, 12, 13 and 24].

Recent publications with the focus on laser welding of dissimilar

Al-Cu Connectors were concentrated on optimizing the joining
Page 1 of 10

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process on specific purposes, e.g. strength [7]. The authors in [14]
enhance the ductility of the connections by using filler materials. In
[15], the authors analyzed the effects of a tin foil as a filler material
on laser joining of aluminum and copper. Other publications are
focused on characterization of Al-Cu connectors [11, 12, 16 and 17]
and the joint fracture behavior is analyzed [18].
This paper investigates the influence of external effects on the joining
process performance. The resistance of the process to external
disturbances is interpreted as process robustness. Different effects
will be identified and analyzed to the laser welding process to prove
the competitive manufacturing readiness of the process.
Organization
The braze-welding principle
The braze-welding process is based on the laser keyhole welding
principle. The beam is focused on the material surface with an energy
density of at least 1 MW/cm2 [31], which melts and vaporizes the
material. The vaporized metal forms a hole wherein the laser is
reflected multiple times, thus the energy absorption of the metal is
increased. This high energy input enables a fast process and a
selective melting of the upper aluminum can be achieved, while the
lower copper remains in solid state (see figure 3). Thus, the process is
called a braze-welding process [24]. The realized fusion layer
thickness between Al and Cu can be reduced to under 5 µm. The
formation of IMC is minimized, whereby a ductile metallic joint with
reduced electric resistance is realized.

During the investigations, dissimilar Al/Cu connectors were joined

with defined pretreatments to analyze and evaluate the influence on
the process robustness. The tests were chosen on expert experience
based on preliminary investigations and on requirements from the
industry.

Figure 3: Braze welding process to join dissimilar metals [20].

Figure 2: Structure of this paper.

The following structure was defined (see figure 2):

A. Material effects
1. Hardness
2. Surface
B. Design effects
3. Multiple layers
4. Coating
Figure 4: Spatial laser modulation to control weld seam width [7].
5. Anodization
C. Process effects The mechanical properties of the joint depend on the surface area of
6. Shielding gas the welded interface. The width of the interface is controlled by using
7. Gap a spatial power modulation [25] (figure 4), which furthermore can be
8. Cleanness used to define the weld pool geometry [12 and 26]. Current
investigations have shown that high-frequency power oscillated laser-
The material effects were linked to the base material properties and beam stabilize the welding process [27, 28 and 29] by reducing the
the design effects are usually requirements due to the product or penetration depth fluctuation and achieving a homogenous heat input.
manufacturing requirements. These effects were taken into account The author in [30] developed a guide for choosing process parameters
before processing and cannot be influenced by the process. The direct for pulsed lasers for similar materials and analyzed their effect on
process effects were grouped separately. The analysis of the weld heat flow, weld dimension and weldability.
performance was performed by post-process methods.

All tests will be performed by using the braze-welding process [10],

which will be explained hereafter. The tests will deal with laser
joining of Aluminum to Copper. A summary will point out the main
advantages and issues on laser welding of Al-Cu connectors. The
outlook will state opportunities to enhance the braze-welding process.
Page 2 of 10
Methodology
For the laser welding experiments, bare AA 1050/1100 and anodized
AA 1145 were joined to SF/E-Cu. The coating and thickness changed
depending on the test. The materials were always joined in overlap
configuration. Each sample had a size of 40x40 mm with an overlap
of 10 to 15 mm. The weld seam was welded with a length of 30 mm
in the center of the overlap. The materials were joined without

01/28/2016
cleaning, except for tests in section C.8. The surface of the base
material was dust and grease free, as well as uncrumpled. No
shielding gas was used, except for tests in section C.6.
The laser machine applied in all the experiments was a Trumpf
TruFiber 400 fiber laser machine with a wavelength of 1070 nm and
a maximum power of 400 W. Taking into account the 31 µm spot
diameter, a maximum power density of approximately 50 MW/cm2
can be reached depending on the defocus setting. The spatial laser
modulation was adapted to have a weld seam width of 0.5 mm and
the temporal modulation was performed with a pulse frequency of 18
kHz. The pulse time was varied from 27 to 36 µs to control the
energy input into the melt pool. The used parameters were developed
during previous investigations [24]. They were optimized to enhance
the mechanical durability and to minimize the IMC layer thickness.
The laser path was controlled by a Scanlab HS20 2D scanner head.
𝐹: 𝑝𝑢𝑙𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑐𝑒
𝑠: 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑛
For a good joint quality, the maximum pulling force and toughness
should be increased. Since the base material influences both factors,
see chapter A.1, material control tests should be performed at the
beginning of an investigation.
Tests to evaluate process robustness
A.1. Hardness
During the investigations it was found that the material hardness has
an effect on the mechanical performance, particularly on the
maximum pulling force. The influence of material properties on the
process has also been reported by [14]. During the manufacturing
process of the sheets, the metals were strain hardened, the strength is
increased, but the total elongation is decreased [33]. Depending on
the strain hardening history and heat-treatment, the metals can be
divided in soft to hard in intermediate grades: annealed=soft; quarter
hard; half hard; hard; etc. Figure 6 shows three Aluminum base
material samples with different hardness.

600
hard Al
500 half-hard Al
soft Al
Force [N] 400

300

200

100

0
0 10 20 30 40
Strain [%]
Figure 5: Exemplary cross section for a laser braze-welded dissimilar Al-Cu
joint with reduced IMC layer thickness. Figure 6: Pull tests results for Al base metal with different hardness.

The weld seams were evaluated by performing mechanical and
metallurgical tests. Cross-sectional micrographs were used to
investigate the intermetallic interface, i.e. the layer thickness (see
figure 5). Furthermore, the weld porosity and cracks could be
evaluated. The samples were grinded with SiC-Paper up to roughness
1000. The samples were then polished with 6, 3 and 1 µm diamond
suspension. After cleaning with de-ionized water, the samples were
etched with a Keller solution for 3 to 5 seconds. The cross sections
were analyzed with an optical microscope using unpolarized light.
The aluminum (0.2 mm thick) was joined to soft, annealed Copper
(σ= 220 MPa, 0.5 mm thick). Figure 6 shows the impact of the base
materials hardness to the mechanical properties of the joint. The
results of figures 6 and 7 were directly linked, the softer base material
caused a reduced maximum pulling force with a higher strain, hard
base materials showed an inverse behavior.

The mechanical performance was evaluated by a shear pull test by

measuring the maximum shear force and the toughness of the joint.
The tests were performed on a Zwick/Roell Z010 material testing
machine with a pulling velocity of 3 mm/min and a sampling rate of
10 kHz. The toughness T can be calculated by:

𝑙
𝑇 = ∫ 𝐹 𝑑𝑠 (1)
0

With:

𝑙: 𝑝𝑢𝑙𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑢𝑝𝑜𝑛 𝑓𝑎𝑖𝑙𝑢𝑟𝑒

Page 3 of 10

01/28/2016
 700

600

500

400
Force [N]

300

200 hard Al-Cu

100 half-hard Al-Cu
soft Al-Cu
0
0,0 2,0 4,0 6,0 8,0
Strain [%]
Figure 8: Effect of three different surface states on the mechanical properties.
Figure 7: Effect of base material hardness on the mechanical properties of
the welded joint. The natural and the ablated samples delivered similar toughness and
maximum pulling force. Hence, the effect of ablation of the surface
By using a harder base material, the maximum pulling force can be on the process is insignificant. The sanded samples reached a higher
increased, but the joint will become more brittle (see figure 7). The pulling force, put the toughness has been reduced. This result can be
softer material gives the advantages of more elongation before break. explained by the knowledge gained in the chapter A.1. The sanding
A ductile base material can compensate material stresses induced by process changed trough the impact energy of the corundum the
thermal distortion and therefore prevents the formation of cracks. The hardness of the surface of the material. Increasing the hardness of a
soft joint is more likely to withstand alternating mechanical loads material goes along with an increased strength and a decreased
compared to the joints with hard Aluminum temper. The joints were toughness. The sanded surface did not affect the welding process, the
broken next to the weld seam in the heat affected zone in the cross sections for all samples were equivalent (see figure 9).
aluminum base material. Thus, the joints cannot be validated only by
comparing the maximum pulling force, the maximum strain also
needs to be accounted. It was found that the calculated toughness can
be used to estimate the mechanical performance of the joint.

A.2. Surface

Aluminum is a highly reflective material for infrared lasers and has a

high thermal conductivity. Thus, a high power density is needed to
heat and melt the metal. The surface of the workpiece could affect the
process performance during pulsed laser welding by increasing or
decreasing the absorptivity which results in a deficient weld quality
[32].
The effect of the material surface will be investigated by preparing
three different samples with varying surface treatment. The first one
is the natural aluminum, untreated, as used in most applications. The
second sample has been ablated with a marking laser before joining.
(Parameters: Defocus: 1,5 mm; Width: 0,05 mm; Power: 30 W; v:
1600 mm/s; Frequency: 40 kHz). The third sample were sanded with
corundum. All samples were welded with the same process
parameters and validated by a pull test. The mechanical results are
shown in figure 8.
Figure 9: Cross sections of Al-Cu connectors with treated Al surface.
The main factor for absorption, especially during the whole process is
the material temperature. During the starting phase, the surface
affects the heating up phase of the material, until a saturation value
for absorption is reached [34]. During the keyhole welding process, a
plasma is formed, the absorption is not depending on the surface
anymore. The two dominating effects for absorption are inverse
Bremsstrahlung of the plasma and Fresnel absorption at the cavity
walls [35]. Thus, the relation between surface state and absorptivity
can only be made at ambient temperature.
For keyhole welding, an effect of the surface can only be seen during
the starting phase. With the formation of the keyhole, an effect of the
state of surface was not detected. The starting phase can be reduced
by using high peak power pulse at the beginning [25]. The process
stabilizes due to the formation of the keyhole capillary, which was
also found by [28].

B.3. Multiple Layers

The manufacturing of battery modules requires the joining of

multiple layers of aluminum to copper [36]. In order to reduce the
experimental effort for a new material combination, a comparison of
one single layer joint to a multiple layers with the same thickness in
total has been performed (see figure 10).

Page 4 of 10

01/28/2016

Figure 10: Joining of multiple layers of thin Al sheets to Cu.
The tests have been performed with one single layer of 0.50 mm
thickness and four layers of 0.125 mm of thickness. The parameters
were identical for both setups. Pull tests were not performed because
of the lack of a defined and uniform mechanical test for multiple
layers. The cross sections showed for the welding of 4 Al-layers a
thin IMC layer, however the penetration for the single layer was
strongly increased (see figure 11). The multiple layer configuration
showed a weld seam with flat-angle flanks compared to the single
layer joint. The weld seam width of the multiple layer configuration
was smaller compared to the single layer configuration.
Figure 11: Cross section of one layer (left) and four layers (right) Al to Cu
with the equal total joint thickness and equal energy input.
During the welding process, the laser liquefies and vaporizes
aluminum, the keyhole is formed for both configurations similarly.
The zone next to the keyhole is affected by heat conduction, whereat
the single layer can be heated uniformly. The multiple layers were
thermal delimited by each geometrical transition. Thus, the layer next
to the copper stays colder than the upper layers, which results in a
more flat-angle weld flank. Small steps in the liquefied weld can be
observed (figure 12).
Figure 12: Three layers of 0.2 mm Al on Cu, a heat transition can be seen
between each layer. (Welded without spatial oscillation)
Page 5 of 10
01/28/2016
To conclude, it was shown that the braze-welding process is able to
weld multiple layers of Al to Cu. Each layer transition causes a
thermal insulation, causing the layer next to the Cu to be “colder”,
with a reduced melt pool. The welding of multiple layers therefore
needs a higher energy input compared to single layer connectors to
achieve an equal weld seam width.
B.4. Coating
Despite Aluminum and Copper are considered not weldable to each
other, both metals are able to form an alloy with other metals, e.g.
nickel or tin. These materials could act as intermediary, aluminum
and copper were only joined to the so called filler material [14 and
15]. The filler material can be applied during the process or coated
base materials could be used. The thickness of the coating influences
the joint properties, a thin coating can lead to the formation of a
ternary alloy, and a thick coating could cause a heat barrier, which
resulted in a difference in weld depth [15].
The following experiment was performed to identify possible benefits
of a nickel coated copper to bare copper in mechanical strength.
Nickel can be welded to copper and aluminum, thus can be used as
filler material. Bare aluminum was welded to bare copper and to Ni-
coated copper with 3-5 µm coating thickness. The bare copper had a
thickness of 0.3 mm, the Ni-coated copper a thickness of 0.25 mm
and the aluminum 0.2 mm. Both materials were joined with equal
parameters.
Figure 13: Effect of Ni coating on the mechanical properties.
By comparing the mechanical results shown on figure 13, no benefit
of Ni-coated copper can be seen compared to the bar copper. The
maximum pull forces are similar, same for the strain. The cross
section (see figure 14) show an equal intermixture in the weld seam.
Figure 14: Cross section without (left) and with (right) Ni coating.
Thus, a coating to enhance the compatibility of the dissimilar metals
is not needed, the materials can be joined directly by laser braze-
welding with similar mechanical properties of the joint. A beneficial
metallurgic effect of the Ni to the mechanical properties of the joint
was not found.
B.5. Anodization
The anodized base materials had two different surfaces with unequal
anodization. As delivered, one side of the base metal was matt, the
other side had a grounded appearance, possibly generated by a rolling
process (figure 17). The ablation process changed the thickness of the
material (see table 1). All samples were welded with same process
parameters.

The anodizing procedure is commonly used in industry to enhance

the robustness of Aluminum. The artificial thickened oxide layer
makes the material more resistant to mechanical impacts and
corrosion. Regarding the weldability, the anodized aluminum is
unwanted because of the high melting point and the porosity of the
oxide layer, wherein atmospheric moisture could condense. The
welding of an anodized base material will cause a weak and porous
joint (see figure 15).

Figure 17: Anodized Al with unequal surfaces on the identical sheet.

The anodized Al, welded in the 2-step process was compared to the
bare Al received by ablating both sides. The Al materials were
welded to 0.5 mm bare copper. The mechanical results (see figure
18), show a dependence on which side has been ablated. The
toughness and maximum pull force has been the highest for the joint
with the mate side ablated. If the other surface, the grounded one is
ablated, the mechanical properties decrease. The ablation of both
sides increases the shear strength compared to the grounded surface
ablation, but the toughness decreases again.

Figure 15: Porous weld seam caused by the anodized Al sheet.

Thus, the anodized surface has to be removed, common techniques

here for are laser ablation or mechanical polishing with sand paper
[17]. Laser ablation can be selectively applied where material will be
welded and therefore will be used for the experiments (see figure 16).

Figure 18: The choice on which side was ablated affected the mechanical
properties.

The mechanical results for the one side matt ablated Al were best. By
ablating the grounded side, a drop in maximum pulling force and
toughness of approximately 5% was found compared to the matt side.
By ablating both sides, the toughness decreased by 20 %.

The results depend on which surface was ablated, respectively which

Figure 16: The bottom surface of the Al was ablated in a first step, then surface remained at the sample. The cross sections show that the
secondly welded to the Cu, thus 2-step process. energy absorption for both sided ablated aluminum was reduced,
which resulted in the reduced toughness (figure 19).
The anodized aluminum will be joined in a 2-step process. First, the
bottom surface of the Al, which will be contacted to the Cu directly,
is ablated. Only the oxide layer next to the welded area will be
removed, the residual anodization on the workpiece can be preserved.
The second step consist of laser-braze welding of ablated Al to Cu.
Page 6 of 10

01/28/2016

Figure 19: Cross section of one side ablated (left) and both sides ablated
(right) aluminum, both welded with equal energy input.
To conclude, anodized aluminum can be joined in a two-step process,
but the mechanical properties of untreated aluminum-copper
connections were superior. The anodizing process change properties
of the surfaces unequally, thus a two-step process cannot be applied
on any surface, it has to be adapted to the surface of the workpiece.
The anodizing of both surfaces before joining will reduce the
thickness of the base material (see table 1), thus results in reduced
mechanical properties.
Table 1. Thicknesses of ablated anodized aluminum.
Thickness [µm]
No ablation 215-218
One side ablated 207-209
Two side ablated 200-203
C.6. Shielding gas
Aluminum reacts strongly with ambient oxygen. Similar to the IMC,
the generated AlxOy were brittle and unwanted. A shielding gas is
used to cover the weld seam from the reaction with the air. Mostly,
argon, a chemical inert gas, is used as shielding gas. The joining of
dissimilar metals is feasible with [14] or without shielding gas [29].
Pull tests were performed to retrieve the effect of welding
with/without shielding gas on the mechanical properties.
Figure 20: Effect of shielding gas to the mechanical properties.
It was found that the shielding gas had a negligible influence on the
mechanical strength of the joint (see figure 20). All mechanical
results were equally distributed within the process variation. The
optical analysis of the weld seam welded with shielding gas revealed
more geometric details, the spatial modulation can clearly be
Page 7 of 10
01/28/2016
identified. The weld seam without shielding gas appeared rougher
and burned (see figure 21). The cross sections were comparable for
both setups.
Figure 21: Weld seam with (right) and without (left) shielding gas (Argon 4.6)
The braze-welding principle is based on a laser keyhole welding
process, which includes the evaporation of metal gases and the
formation of a plasma on top of the weld seam [35]. Thus, the
surrounding air is displaced and the metal is prevented from
oxidation. Shielding gas should be used, if closed and clean weld
seams need to be achieved, for example for Cr/Ni steels [9]. The
shielding gas can even more influence the process dynamics by
influencing the vaporized metal. According to [37], the shielding gas
can have a positive or a negative effect on the process, e.g. increasing
the penetration depth by influencing the plasma plume.
C.7. Gap
The braze-welding process is a laser process which does not add
material to the process. Thus, air gaps in the joint can lead to not
desired joint properties, like porosity. Most authors claim to
minimize the air gap and to obtain “a nearly zero gap” [4], [14]. The
following experiment is conduced to quantify the importance of a
“nearly zero gap”. The author in [35] recommended that a gap
between two blanks should be less than 10% of the thickness of the
thinner blank.
Figure 22: Setup for gap test
A gap test has been performed (figure 22). The gap h was variated
from 0 mm to 105 µm by using stacked 15 µm thick aluminum foil.
Cross sections were analyzed. Pull tests were not performed. 200 µm
thick Aluminum was welded to 300 µm thick copper.

Figure 23: Gap of 15µm: Gas bubble on interface edge (left).
Gap of 30 µm: The air gap favors the formation of cracks (right).
The cross sections reveal the formation of gas pores and cracks (see
figure 23) for gaps of 15-30 µm. The amount of gas pores as well as
the total surface covered by them was counted, but a direct
correlation between gap offset and amount of gas pores was not
found. The cracks were mostly formed with the presence of an air
gap next to the interface.
Figure 24: Gap of 45µm: Al flows in interface (left).
Gap of 105 µm: Al bridges distance to Cu (right).
With a larger gap less gas pores and cracks were observed. A gap of
45 µm or more allowed the liquid metal to flow into the gap at the
interface of both metals, thus preventing the formation of cracks on
the edge (figure 24, left). With the increasing gap, gas pores were
reduced again. A gap of 105 µm was successfully bridged and a
mechanical joint was formed (figure 24, right). The width of the
interface is reduced with increasing gap and the weld seam becomes
increasingly unstable.
To summarize, a small air gap between Al and Cu of 15-30 µm
reduces the overall joint performance, but an increased air gap up to
50% of the base material thickness, 105 µm, was still successfully
joined. An evident link between gap and joint performance was not
founded. The formation of pores and cracks at the interface will be
furtherly investigated. The best joint performance, as shown for the
other tests, was found for a nearly zero gap width, which was realized
by an appropriate clamping device.
C.8. Cleanness
In order to achieve a grease- and dust-free surface, workpieces were
commonly cleaned before joining. Unfortunately, detailed
information about the cleaning process are sparely delivered.
Common cleaning techniques for metals are alcoholic solutions,
acetone, and ultrasonic bath [32].
Page 8 of 10
01/28/2016
An experiment has been setup to investigate the effect of the cleaning
technique to the weld quality. Hence, the two common techniques,
acetone and ultrasonic bath were compared with an untreated, natural
sample. All samples were joint with the same process parameters.
The samples were handled with gloves to avoid fingerprints. After
cleaning the samples for two minutes in the ultrasonic bath, the
samples were cleaned with demineralized water. All samples with
their specific treatment dried for 30 minutes on the atmosphere.
Figure 25: Cross sections to compare the effect of different cleaning routines.
The pull tests (see figure 26) generated similar results for all samples.
The variation was highest for the natural samples and the toughness
was lightly increased for samples cleaned with acetone. The cross
sections correlate with the mechanical results, regardless the cleaning
medium, a homogenous and uniform weld seam was formed (figure
25).
Figure 26: Effect of sample cleanness to the mechanical properties.
Summarizing, the sample cleaning has a minor, regarding the process
variance, negligible effect in the mechanical properties of the joint. In
most cases, the samples can be joined without a cleaning routine, a
dust and fingerprint-free surface fulfills the requirements for the
braze-welding process.
Summary
In this paper, the robustness of the braze-welding process has been
analyzed. From the material side it was found that the base material
hardness had an effect on to the Al-Cu joints. High strength base
material will lead to high strength joints, compared to tough or
ductile materials. An effect of the state of the surface was not found
due to the keyhole process.
Multiple layers, which were considered as a design factor, could be
joined by braze-welding, but it was found that more layers require an
increased energy input and the process parameter need to be adapted.
The Ni-coating on the other hand had no distinguished changed
compared to bare copper and no effect on the process robustness. The
anodized material were joined by a two-step process to remove the
oxide layer before welding to enhance the process quality. The joint
performance was affected by which side of Al was ablated.
The process was found to be mostly insensitive to the material
preparation, the sample cleanness was of less importance. Shielding
gas is not needed for the process, but the surface appearance can be
enhanced. The gap finally had an increased impact to the joint
performance, but a direct link between gap width and porosity/cracks
was not found.
To conclude, the braze-welding process is able to join aluminum-
copper connections under variable configurations and conditions.
Most effects were identified in the pre-process phase and can
therefore be minimized, e.g. by parameter optimization. The most
critical in-process effect is a possible air gap between both base
materials. In order to achieve the highest joint quality, base materials
with high weldability, e.g. without anodization or other treatment,
were preferred. A nearly zero gap has to be pursued and base material
tests should be performed. For joint evaluation, the use of multiple
results, e.g. maximum pull force, toughness and cross sections is
recommended.
References
1. Lee, S. S., Kim, T. H., Hu, S. J., Cai, W. W., & Abell, J. A.
„Joining Technologies for Automotive Lithium-Ion Battery
Manufacturing: A Review”. In ASME 2010 International
Manufacturing Science and Engineering Conference (pp. 541-
549).
2. Kouters, M. H. M., G. H. M. Gubbels, and O. Dos Santos
Ferreira. "Characterization of intermetallic compounds in Cu–Al
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39.2 (2006): 394. IMC Intermetallic Compounds

Al Aluminum

Cu Copper

Ni Nickel

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