The influence of TiO2 nano-particles on bond strength of cold roll bonded aluminum strips

In the present work, cold roll bonding (CRB) process characteristics of AA1050 strips, such as bond strength, threshold deformation, undulation of peeling force, and peeled surface in the presence of TiO2 nano-particles were carried out and compared to those of aluminum strip without particles. The bond strength was evaluated by the peeling test. The results indicated that when the reduction in thickness was increased, the peeling force of AA1050 strips was enhanced. It was found that the presence of TiO2 nano-particles reduces the bond strength of layered strips when compared to layered pure aluminum for the same reduction in thickness applied through CRB process. When the reduction in thickness was increased, the undulation of average peeling force values was increased at constant particles content. Also, the strips without particles had lower undulation value as compared to the strips with titanium oxide particles. In addition, in the presence of titanium oxide, when the particles content was increased, the undulation of average peeling force values was decreased at constant reduction in thickness. On the other hand, by increasing the particles content, the average slope of bond strength curves was decreased and the threshold deformation was increased. Finally, it was found that the bond strength of AA1100/alumina/AA1100 strips was much more than that of AA1050/titanium oxide/AA1050. This was attributed to both the metal and particle type. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.