Guest ZFury Posted September 4, 2006 Share Posted September 4, 2006 I heard that there are ways. How can I do this? Anyone know how to weld aluminum to steel? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lunar240z Posted September 4, 2006 Share Posted September 4, 2006 theres a process called explosion welding that can do it....but no feasable way for the average hobby welder...IIRC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dayz Posted September 4, 2006 Share Posted September 4, 2006 I believe you can solder it...it depends on the strenght it needs... I did it before and worked well. Dayz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pop N Wood Posted September 4, 2006 Share Posted September 4, 2006 JB weld Only half joking. Humvees are glued together, as are some high end aluminum bikes. Maybe you can find some industrial grade adhesive and a few bolts to hold everything together. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twoeightnine Posted September 4, 2006 Share Posted September 4, 2006 JB weld Only half joking. Humvees are glued together' date=' as are some high end aluminum bikes. Maybe you can find some industrial grade adhesive and a few bolts to hold everything together.[/quote'] Close as your going to get. How about fastener technology? Ie..rivets, threaded screws, Zeus or other quick pull fastener. Remember that these metals are called "dissimilar" metals and will require corrosion protection of some type. Sealants or teflon tape of some style. You can even bond thin fiberglass shim to one surface. Of course if you use an adheasive...this will not be necassary. Dissimilar metals corrode each other in a hurry! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spork Posted September 4, 2006 Share Posted September 4, 2006 You ever heard of spray torch welding? (I think thats what it's called) I don't know much about it, but my brother went to a school on it and you can join 2 different metals using it and he's done aluminum to steel and it forms a strong joint. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twoeightnine Posted September 4, 2006 Share Posted September 4, 2006 "Welding" stell to aluminum for structural aplications is not practicle due to the differing melting temperatures of the base metals and the incompatability of most fillers. Even when success can be acheived, the dissimilar metal corrosion activity at the "weld" joint will cause failure even when "cracks" are not apparent. If one is hell bent on "hot bonding" dissimilar metals verses "fastening" methods, one can "solder" the two together. The low temp required to melt the solder and gain sufficient "adhesion" with out altering the base metals leaves the joint less structurlly sound than would be found with like metal weld construction or fastening techniques of dissimilar materials. But if you must "torch up", check out these "solder" supplies. http://www.muggyweld.com/super1.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ZFury Posted September 4, 2006 Share Posted September 4, 2006 What I was going to do does not need to have a really strong hold. I was thinking about putting on a crank trigger, on the front pully of my Z31. But bolting/bracketing it on may be best now that I have looked closer at what I have to work with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boodlefoof Posted September 4, 2006 Share Posted September 4, 2006 Most cars are glued together nowadays. Look at structural adhesives. That might be your best bet. Edit: Just remembered that I didn't suggest any such adhesives... 3M's 5200 is pretty good from what I hear. I plan to use it to bond aluminum to mild steel and to fiberglass with my Z project (in conjunction with rivets). This stuff is pretty popular with the kit car builders crowd and can be bought in lots of boating supply stores. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnc Posted September 6, 2006 Share Posted September 6, 2006 Three succesful methods of welding aluminum to steel exist that I am aware of: Explosive Welding - as mentioned above. Friction Stir Welding - a tungsten probe is spun at some insane rpm and jambed into the joint, then driven forward, with the friction creating the heat and the spinning probe stirring the molten metal into a homogenouse weld. Cold Metal Transfer - a highly modified GMAW process that keeps the material at a considerably cooler temperature then a normal GMAW process. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AK-Z Posted September 6, 2006 Share Posted September 6, 2006 So pretty much somehow trying to mix (not necessarily mix, but stirred) the 2 metals together at the joint so that it will be held together? Makes sense. I suggest welding a alluminum honeycomb piece to the alluminum and then a steal mesh piece on the steal an gluing them together. Thats how they do it at ferrari if I recall correctly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
franky Posted June 4, 2010 Share Posted June 4, 2010 In my work, we do friction stir welding. We've achieved a pretty good bonding between aluminium to steel in butt joint configuration. It can be made in friction stir spot welding too. The process induced a pin tool (normally H13 heat treated tool steel) that penetrates into the joint at high RPM (can be less than 2000). In aluminium to steel, you can use PCBN or tungsten tool to prevent wear but we don't make it very often. It is feasible, but you'll have to know from a metallurgical point of view that intermetallics between aluminium and steel are created at temperature as low as 300-400 Celcius degree. So, if you heat up to this temperature, you'll have intermetallics in your joint that weakens the weld (low ductility and strength). There is a group, at my work too, working with structural adhesives. They do a lot of application which involves aluminium to steel bonding. The key factor with adhesives is the surface preparation. You can have better result with a lower strength adhesive applies with a good surface preparation compare to a high strength adhesive applies with a bad surface preparation. Surface preparation can be as easy as sand blasting or other processes if you required high strength bonding. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwi303 Posted June 5, 2010 Share Posted June 5, 2010 Never seen this thread before, interesting. The new Royal Navy destroyers and Protector class offshore patrol vessels of the NZ Navy are welded using friction stir welding. On the glueing cars together front however, most modern cars do have adhesive in the joins between panels, but as I understand it, that is not primarily for the structural bonding, that is provided by the spot welds, with the gluing action being a bonus. The adhesive is more of a anti-vibration damper which stops creaks and groans as the chassis flexes going over bumps and as a chassis stiffener. So while it's not there to keep bits from pulling apart, it does stop them moving around in place as much, absorbing vibrations and stopping them propagating through the body. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
proxlamus© Posted June 5, 2010 Share Posted June 5, 2010 i would love to ask, why would you want to weld aluminum to steel?! but this thread was dated to 2006 and the thread was started by someone who no longer visits the board Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlexPie Posted June 5, 2010 Share Posted June 5, 2010 i would love to ask, why would you want to weld aluminum to steel?! but this thread was dated to 2006 and the thread was started by someone who no longer visits the board yeah no kidding haha but for what its worth, Brazing perhaps? just basic oxy/ac torch welding and it has a pretty funky smell IIRC its like that gold colored weld. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garvice Posted June 5, 2010 Share Posted June 5, 2010 i would love to ask, why would you want to weld aluminum to steel?! but this thread was dated to 2006 and the thread was started by someone who no longer visits the board What I was going to do does not need to have a really strong hold. I was thinking about putting on a crank trigger, on the front pully of my Z31. But bolting/bracketing it on may be best now that I have looked closer at what I have to work with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ozzzzz Posted June 5, 2010 Share Posted June 5, 2010 Three succesful methods of welding aluminum to steel exist that I am aware of: Explosive Welding - as mentioned above. Friction Stir Welding - a tungsten probe is spun at some insane rpm and jambed into the joint, then driven forward, with the friction creating the heat and the spinning probe stirring the molten metal into a homogenouse weld. Cold Metal Transfer - a highly modified GMAW process that keeps the material at a considerably cooler temperature then a normal GMAW process. There is a 4th method. Pulsed laser in a vacuum chamber. I had a instructer who joined aluminum to stainless. He was a welding consultant for LL Labs.(also known as the rad lab home of the worlds largest laser). He was told off the record it went up on the space shuttle. Have no doubt it is legit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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