Spot joining of AA 5754 and high strength steel sheets by consumable bit

Spot joining of dissimilar metal alloys is difficult because of differences in melting temperature as well as differences in composition. If a fusion welding process like resistance spot welding is employed, then alloys mix in the fusion zone and can create brittle intermetallic compounds during solidification. When self-piercing riveting (SPR) is used, the alloys to be joined must be ductile enough to be formed around the rivet. In this paper, a new approach to joining dissimilar metal alloys has been studied, where a consumable bit has been used to create a spot joint between dissimilar alloys. The resulting joint has both metallurgical and mechanical bonding characteristics and can be made between very soft and very hard alloys, like dual phase (DP) 590 and DP 980 and light metals like AA 5754. Lap shear strengths of joints made by friction bit joining (FBJ) are similar to or better than comparable joints made by self-piercing riveting.