Improving interfacial reaction nonhomogeneity during laser welding-brazing aluminum to titanium

Heterogeneous interfacial reactions were easily found along the Ti/Al interface due to high temperature gradient during laser welding-brazing of Ti/Al dissimilar alloys. To improve the nonhomogeneity, relative uniform energy distribution of laser beam and appropriate groove were attempted. The effects of these attempts on the nonhomogeneity of interfacial reactions were investigated by finite element method (FEM) numerical simulation and experimental validation. The results indicate that the V-shaped groove can make the interface roughly parallel to the isotherm of the temperature field. Moreover, the rectangular spot laser can further improve homogenization of the interfacial reaction along the interface in comparison with circular spot laser. Tensile test results show that the combination of rectangular spot laser welding-brazing and V-shaped groove can effectively control the fracture of Ti/Al joints in the seam in a wide processing parameters window, and the average tensile strength reaches 278 MPa. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.