Abstract
Magnetic pulse welding is effective for lap-joining similar and dissimilar sheet metals such as Al/Al, Cu/Cu, and Al/Cu. A discharge circuit is used for the seam welding. It is composed of a flat one-turn coil and an energy-storing capacitor bank. The coil is an important component to obtain a high-density magnetic flux, and is made of one copper alloy plate, instead of a winding. The influence of the seam length of a sheet metal has been confirmed by welding an aluminum sheet to another aluminum sheet. It has been clarified that magnetic pulse welding is suitable for joining a sheet metal with increasing seam length, because the effective inductance increases with increasing seam length. As a result of investigating the transfer quantity of the electric energy from a capacitor to a coil, it has been found that magnetic pulse welding with a high energy efficiency can be used to join sheet metals if the transfer coefficient is large. On the basis of the experimental results, the influence of the remaining inductance on the transfer coefficient is calculated. A decrease in the remaining inductance adds to the welding capability of equipment and reduces the electric energy consumption.
