Multi-material bonding in ultrasonic consolidation

Purpose - The increasing interest in engineering structures made from multiple materials has led to corresponding interest in technologies, which can fabricate multi-material parts. The purpose of this paper is to further explore of the multi-material fabrication capabilities of ultrasonic consolidation (UC). Design/methodology/approach - Various combinations of materials including titanium, silver, tantalum, aluminum, molybdenum, stainless steel, nickel, copper, and MetPreg (R) were ultrasonically consolidated. Some of the materials were found to be effective as an intermediate layer between difficult to join materials. Elemental boron particles were added in situ between selected materials to modify the bonding characteristics. Microstructures of deposits were studied to evaluate bond quality. Findings - Results show evidence of good bonding between many combinations of materials, thus illustrating increasing potential for multi-material fabrication using UC. Originality/value - Multi-material fabrication capabilities using UC and other additive manufacturing processes is a critical step towards the realization of engineering designs which make use of functional material combinations and optimization.