Approach to disrupting thick intermetallic compound interfacial layer in friction stir brazing (FSB) of Al/Cu plates

Friction stir brazing (FSB) was developed for dissimilar joining to overcome the problems associated with friction stir lap welding (e.g. pin wear, narrow bonded area, hook defect) by metallurgical reaction instead of plastic flow. To enhance the thermomechanical effect of the rotating shoulder, a pin free tool with a large shoulder of 30 mm diameter was used in FSB of 5 mm thick Al/Cu plates in stepped lap configuration with Zn braze. Compared to the case using common tool of 20 mm diameter, it was found that although the intermetallic compound (IMC) layer grew thickly, it was disrupted into particles, and end crack within thick IMC layer was eliminated. As a result, the joint fractured not along interface and the fracture load increased by as much as 2271 N. This work proposed an approach to disrupting continuous IMC into particles by enhancing the mechanical effect of rotating shoulder.