Int J Adv Manuf Technol (2013) 67:647654

DOI 10.1007/s00170-012-4512-6

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Overlap conduction laser welding of aluminium to steel

S. Meco & G. Pardal & S. Ganguly & R. M. Miranda &
L. Quintino & S. Williams

Received: 22 April 2012 / Accepted: 11 September 2012 / Published online: 21 September 2012
# Springer-Verlag London Limited 2012

Abstract In the present study, a continuous wave fibre

laser was used in conduction mode to join aluminium
alloys to low carbon steel. Two different sets of experiments were performed: with Zn-coated steel and uncoated steel. Welding was carried out in overlap
configuration with steel plate on the top aiming to
conduct the heat through the steel and melt the aluminium at the interface, wetting the steel substrate.
Metallurgical incompatibilities between these two participating alloys originate the formation of intermetallic
phases. Therefore, restricting melting of the aluminium
would limit the formation and growth of the intermetallic layer (IML). It was shown that the power density
of the laser could be used such that, at the interface,
aluminium only melts and the steel remains in solid
state. The uncoated steel showed a regular pattern of
IML formation, while the Zn-coated steel showed a
different pattern of IML.
Keywords Laser welding . Conduction mode . Aluminium .
Cladded steel . Microstructure

S. Meco : G. Pardal : S. Ganguly : S. Williams

Cranfield University,
Cranfield MK43 0AL, UK
R. M. Miranda (*)
UNIDEMI, Departamento de Engenharia Mecnica e Industrial,
Faculdade de Cincias e Tecnologia, FCT, Universidade Nova de
Lisboa,
2829-516 Caparica, Portugal
e-mail: rmiranda@fct.unl.pt
L. Quintino
IST-UTL Instituto Superior Tcnico,
Lisboa, Portugal
L. Quintino
IDMEC, Institute of Mechanical Engineering, TULISBON,
Lisboa, Portugal

1 Introduction
Worldwide government policies tend to reduce fuel consumption to protect the environment. Transport industries
are affected by these policies and thus constantly strive for
new ways to reduce vehicle weight. Lightening these structures will improve energy savings; therefore, aluminium
alloys are being increasingly considered as a structural material replacing steel.
The use of multimaterial in an integrated structure is a
challenge as far as joining is concerned. In order to join
aluminium to steel, forced-fit and form-fit joints [1] have
been studied and extensive research work has been dedicated to this problem [26] including resistance welding and
adhesive bonding.
Laser welding is a cost-effective and versatile joining
technique widely used in automotive industry. However,
there are some technical issues that need to be addressed
when joining aluminium to steel. Melting point and other
physical properties, as the thermal conductivity and the
coefficient of thermal expansion, are substantially different
in both materials, which make fusion welding a difficult
option for joining.
Additionally, the low solid-state solubility of aluminium into iron and the almost zero solid solubility of iron
into aluminium, promote the formation of brittle intermetallic phases during the joining process which significantly deteriorates the joint performance by forming cracks.
The limited solid solubility of these two elements promotes the formation of mostly Al-rich intermetallic
phases as Fe2Al5 and FeAl3. Borrisutthekul et al. [7]
studied intermetallic formation during dissimilar welding
processes and showed that the heat input, as a cooling
rate determining factor, has a major influence on the type
and the thickness of intermetallics, since the formation of
intermetallic phases is controlled by diffusion and, thus,
by the thermal profile of the weld. The heat input is,
therefore, crucial.

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Table 1 Compositon (in wt%) of the steel and the AA5083-H22 alloy

XF350
AA5083-H22

Al

Fe

Si

Mn

P+S

Ti

Cu

Mg

Zn

0.047
Bal.

Bal.
0.40

0.06

0.021
0.400

0.610
0.50

0.025

0.001
0.15

0.03
0.10

2.603.60

0.20

cycle and heat input. This will help eliminating welding

defects and will allow better control in the formation
and growth of intermetallic layers. The related lower
cooling speed also leads to less cracking [13, 14]. These
advantages point out the need to further understand the
phenomena involved in order to develop welding procedures leading to sound welds.
The present study focuses on fibre laser welding of
aluminium alloys to low carbon steel in conduction
mode. The influence of laser welding parameters on
the thickness of the intermetallic layer was evaluated.
Joints were produced in overlap configurations with
steel on top. The research aims to evaluate whether
the laser heat input can be sufficiently controlled to
conduct the heat through the steel and melt the aluminium at the interface wetting the steel substrate. The
intermetallic layer (IML) formation was studied and
the composition of the intermetallic compounds was
analysed using semi-quantitative energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) technique.

Ding et al. [8] established a criterion for the maximum temperature in a dissimilar steel to Al weld and
concluded that it should be below the steel melting
temperature which is not feasible in laser welding. The
diffusion coefficient of the aluminium increases with
temperature, while the diffusion coefficient of steel is
almost constant. Therefore, the formation of intermetallics can be controlled in the temperature range of the
aluminium and steel melting points.
Borrisutthekul et al. [7] concluded that a backing block
with high thermal conductivity is effective in suppressing
intermetallic phases. However, the use of backing blocks is
not cost-effective and limits the weld geometry.
Brittleness is the major characteristic of intermetallics, thus a welding procedure leading to its prevention,
or minimization, should be adopted. This brittle behaviour is due to their crystalline arrangements, often incomplete with insufficient number and mobility of
dislocations and slip systems.
Laser welding is a process where the control of the
heat input is accurate. It has already been used to join
dissimilar metals successfully, with different types of
lasers [1, 9, 10] and in distinct configurations. By
controlling the power density and interaction time dissimilar metallic combinations can be joined in conduction mode. The heat is transferred by conduction from
the irradiation point of the laser to the surroundings.
High power density makes the material to vaporise in
contact with the laser, which creates a keyhole surrounded by the molten metal. Laser can also be used
for brazing joining. A brazing filler metal with lower
melting point than the dissimilar materials is inserted
between these. The laser heats the brazing material
which wets the parent material [11, 12].
The use of the conduction mode in laser welding of
thin dissimilar plates, compared with keyhole mode,
would allow a better control of the welding thermal

Table 2 Composition (in wt%)

of the galvanised steel and the
AA2204 alloy
Galvanised steel
AA 2024T4

2 Experimental procedure
2.1 Materials
Two different steel grades and aluminium combinations
were studied for different thicknesses. Table 1 shows the
composition of the 2-mm-thick steel (XF 350) and the 6mm-thick aluminium alloy (AA5083-H22) used in the first
set of experiments.
A second set of experiments was performed with a low
carbon galvanised steel and aluminium AA2024 alloy combination where the thickness of the participating alloys was
1.6 mm. Table 2 shows the approximate composition of the
two alloys.

Al

Fe

Si

Mn

P+S

Ti

Cu

Mg

Zn

Bal

Bal.
0.50

0.15

0.17
0.50

0.52
0.30.9

0.04

0.15

0.10
3.84.9

1.21.8

0.25

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649

Fig. 1 Laser weld setup

2.2 Laser welding

Lap joints were performed positioning steel on top and
aluminium underneath the steel. This was essential as
aluminium at the top would result into conduction of
the heat along the interface as the thermal conductivity
of aluminium is much higher when compared to steel.
This would result into a very large interfacial melt pool
and heat affected region.
Welding tests were carried out with a continuous
wave high-power ytterbium fibre laser (1,0701,080-nm
wavelength) with a maximum nominal power of 8 kW
from IPG. The laser power was measured and calibrated
by an Ophir Optronics Laser Meter and the laser
beam profile was measured by Primes GmbH Focus
Monitor showing a flat top mode. The beam was focused using a 500-mm focal length lens to different
defocused spot sizes varying from 10 to 16 mm. The
laser power varied between 4 and 6 kW and the welding speed between 0.5 and 2.5 m/min. Commercially
pure argon at a flow rate of 20 l/min was used as
shielding gas. Figure 1 shows the weld setup and the
gas shielding device used in the study.
Aluminium sheets were mechanically wire brushed to
remove all the scales and both steel and aluminium were

Table 3 Intermetallic thickness variation for different spot diameters,

interaction times and power densities
Spot
diameter
[mm]

Travel
speed
[m/min]

Power density
[kW/cm2]

Interaction
time [s]

IML
thickness
[m]

13

0.39
0.34
0.48
1.00
0.30
0.40
0.46
0.4
0.5
0.6

3.0

2.0
2.3
1.6
1.3
3.2
2.4
2.1
1.5
1.2
1.0

2.6
13.5
4.4
13.3
16.2
6.4
7.0
12.6
17.9
19.1

16

10

3.8
4.5
2.0
2.5
3.0
5.1
6.4
7.6

chemically degreased with acetone prior to welding. This

ensured cleanliness of the participating surfaces. Proper
contact to ensure heat conduction between the two surfaces was ensured by a mechanical clamping system as
shown in Fig. 1. Weld cross-sections were prepared by
mechanical polishing and chemical etching. Optical and
scanning electron microscopies with EDS were used in a
XL30 Environmental scanning electron microscope
(SEM). Microhardness indentations were performed in a
Struers Vickers microindenter under a load of 0.1 kN.

3 Results and discussion

The variation of laser welding parameters with the intermetallic layer thickness observed from the initial set of trials
taken with 2-mm-thick structural steel and 6-mm-thick aluminium alloy (as given in Table 1) is shown in Table 3. The
system parameters viz. the laser power and spot size were
converted to power density and interaction time of the laser
with the material as shown in Eqs. 1 and 2.
Power density Laser power=Area of the laser spot

Interaction time Laser spot diameter=Travel speed

Analysing these results, it can be seen that IML is minimised for low power densities and interaction times, which
is for energy densities of about 6 kJ/cm2. Figure 2 shows the
macrographs obtained from welds manufactured with identical power densities and interaction times but with different
spot sizes.
The optical micrograph of a weld produced 10-mmspot size is shown in Fig. 3. It can be seen that the
intermetallic thickness layer is higher in the central part
of the spot (12.6 m) compared to the edges (~3.5 m).
This can be attributed to the fact that the central part of
the weld experiences a longer thermal cycle when compared to the edge.
The nature of the intermetallic compound was analysed using the semi-quantitative EDS in the SEM.
Figure 4 shows the constituents of the intermetallic
layer across the interface. It can be clearly seen that
near the aluminium, at an initial stage first FeAl3 type

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Fig. 2 Macrograph of welds

produced with a power density
3.0 kW/cm2, interaction time of
2 s and a defocused laser beam
of diameter: a 13 mm; b 16 mm

intermetallic layer forms which, after growing to a certain extent, changes stoichiometrically to Fe2Al5. The
type of intermetallics can be predicted from the FeAl
binary phase diagram [15]. Figure 5 shows the relative
position of energy dispersive spectroscopy during the
SEM analysis and Table 4 gives the weight and atomic
percent variation of Fe and Al in the transitional locations (points number 4 and 5 across the interface shown
in Fig. 5).
The following table shows weight and atomic percentage
variation across the interface. It can be seen that nearer the
steel interface it is Fe2Al5 type while nearer the aluminium
interface it is more of FeAl3 type. The conclusion on the
stoichiometry of the intermetallic compound was inferred
from the atomic percentages as observed in the EDS analysis and the phase diagram of the dissimilar elements.

However, it should be noticed that intermetallics often coexist in complex and mixed form and therefore, the semiquantitative analysis may show some deviation from the
ideal ratio. However, similar inferences on the intermetallic
phase can be found elsewhere [16, 17].
A similar parametric domain was then used to reproduce
the welds for 1.6-mm-thick steel and aluminium sheets.
However, in this set of experiments galvanised was used.
The parameters tested to produce the welds are shown in
Table 5. Figure 6 shows the optical micrograph of a specimen produced with interaction time of 1.56 s and the SEM
image is shown in Fig. 7.
Figure 8 shows the results of EDS analysis at the
different locations. It can be seen that the intermetallic
compound contains a mixture of Fe, Al and Zn. The
iron to aluminium atomic ratio was 1:3 as observed in

Fig. 3 Macrograph of a weld produced with 10-mm diameter defocused spot with power density 5.1 kW/cm2 and interaction time 1.5 s
(a). Optical micrographs showing the variation in intermetallic

thickness as measured near the edges and the central part of the weld
shown by the arrows (b, c d)

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651
Table 4 Semi-quantitative analysis results from energy dispersive
spectroscopy

Point 4
Point 5

Fig. 4 SEM micrograph of the interface of weld produced with 16-mm

defocused spot size, power density of 2.5 kW/cm2 and 2.4 s of
interaction time. The intermetallic layer thickness is about 6.4 m

the previous case. However, as expected, Zn is also

present in the intermetallic compound. The maximum
intermetallic thickness in this case was measured to be
around 48 m. Figure 9 shows the optical macrograph
of a weld produced with 0.52 s of interaction time and
it can be seen that, even in this condition full penetration in the aluminium weld was observed.
It can be observed from the weld zone the intermetallic formation pattern that the formation of intermetallic layers was mainly towards the edge of the weld
which is in complete contrast with the weld produced
with uncladded steel. Figure 10 shows the SEM image
near one of the edges of the weld and the location of
energy dispersive spectroscopy. Figure 11 shows the
analysis obtained from EDS.
To evaluate shear strength of dissimilar lap joints between galvanised steel and aluminium, tests were performed
with laser processing parameters depicted in Table 6. It can
be seen that the fundamental processing parameters were

Al (wt%)

Fe (wt%)

Al (at%)

Fe (at%)

Remarks

67.36
58.22

32.64
41.78

81
74

19
26

FeAl3
Fe2Al5

given two different energy levels applied in creation of the

joints. Figure 12 shows the joint shear strength plotted
against the laser energy density used in those joints. It can
be seen that the joint produced with larger laser energy
density showed higher strength as compared to a joint
produced with lower laser energy density. Therefore, it can
be concluded that the joint strength of such dissimilar alloy
weldments is a complex function of intermetallic phase
thickness, its type and orientation and also on the joint
formation area.
In all the analyses performed, traces of Zn and Cu
were found along with Fe and Al. Therefore, from this
it can be stated that the presence of zinc in the cladded
layer results in the formation of a complex intermetallic
phase with Fe and Al. From the weld micrographs
presented in Figs. 7 and 10, it can be said that the
intermetallic formation with Zn-coated steel did not
follow the relatively simple pattern of the maximum
thickness near the centre of the weld as was observed
in the case of uncoated steel specimens as shown in
Fig. 3. In case of Zn-coated steel, there is clearly a
tendency of segregation near the weld edges. The presence of Zn alters the heat conduction through the
interface and instead of flowing from steel to the aluminium work piece, in case of Zn-coated steel, heat
conducts along the interface with the formation of a
substantially thick intermetallic layer near the edge of
the weld bead.
Welding of steel to aluminium is difficult mainly because
of the metallurgical incompatibility which results into formation of FeAl-based intermetallic phases. It can be seen
from the phase diagram [15] that Al has some solid solubility in Fe while Fe does not have any solid solubility in Al.
In Figs. 2 and 6, it was shown that laser in conduction
mode can be used to form FeAl lap welds with melting of

Table 5 Laser parameters used to weld galvanised steel to AA2024T4 alloy

Fig. 5 Locations of energy dispersive spectroscopy carried out on the

micrograph shown in Fig. 4

Spot diameter
[mm]

Travel speed
[m/min]

Power density
[kW/cm2]

Interaction
time [s]

13

0.5
1.5

3.0

1.56
0.52

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Fig. 8 Energy dispersive spectroscopy of the different points as shown

in Fig. 6 b)
600 m

Fig. 6 Optical micrograph of the welded specimen produced with zinc

cladded steel and AA2024-T4 alloy. Power density, 3 kW/cm2; interaction time, 1.56 s

Al in the interface. However, in Fig. 2, it can be seen that the

iron melted where the laser impinged on the surface but near
the interface it remained solid. This is possibly due to the
fact that with a higher thickness it is very difficult to create
and maintain a temperature gradient low enough which
would ensure no melting of the steel substrate.
The IML formation shows a relatively simple trend in
case of welding of uncoated steel to aluminium with
maximum thickness near the centre of the weld and
gradual reduction of IML thickness near the edge of
the weld. The IML formation and growth is controlled
by diffusion of the atoms of the participating alloys
which in turn is controlled by the thermal cycle experienced by the fusion zone. The maximum IML thickness
as observed in the micrographs was reported in Table 3.
It can be seen that the thickness depends upon the laser
spot power density, the lasermetal interaction time and

Fig. 7 SEM image of the

welded area: a overall view; b
magnified image of the centre
and location of semiquantitative analysis by energy
dispersive spectroscopy

the specific point energy which is a product of these

two and the area of the laser spot.
The IML formation in case of welding of the Zncoated steel to aluminium did show a complex variation
pattern. This could be attributed to the change in heat
conduction pattern. The IM layer shows a tendency of
segregation near the edge of the beads. Also traces of
Zn observed in EDS analysis along with the Fe, Al and
Cu. Therefore, the presence of zinc in the coating plays
a significant role in modifying the formation, growth
and composition of the intermetallic layer. Mechanical
shear strength in zinc-coated steel and aluminium joint
showed a reduction in strength with laser energy density. This is in contrary to what was seen in the metallographic correlation between heat input and interlayer
thickness and could be attributed to the fact that although mechanical strength depends on intermetallic
layer thickness it is not solely dependent on that. Rather, mechanical strength is a complex function of intermetallic layer thickness, its composition and orientation

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653

Fig. 11 Energy dispersive spectroscopy of the different points as

shown in Fig. 9

Fig. 9 Optical micrograph of the welded specimen produced with zinc

cladded steel and AA2024-T4 alloy. Laser power density, 3 kW/cm2;
interaction time, 0.52 s

and also on the bonding and diffusion between the

elements which would increase with energy.

4 Conclusions
From the work performed the following can be concluded:

Use of laser in conduction mode provides the necessary flexibility to control the power density and
thereby the heat input necessary for dissimilar alloy
welding.

Formation and growth of intermetallic compounds is

fundamentally controlled by the atomic diffusion of
the participating alloys which in turn depend on the
thermal cycle of the fusion zone. For laser welding
processes, laser spot power density, lasermetal interaction time and specific point energy are the
determinant of the thermal cycle.
IML is minimised for low power densities and
interaction times, which is for energy densities of
about 6 kJ/cm2.
The intermetallic compound formation and growth
when uncoated steel is welded to aluminium shows a
regular pattern with phases showing stoichiometric
relations.
The intermetallic compound formations in case of
Zn-coated steel to Al show a irregular distribution
pattern with excessive intermetallic near the edges
as compared to the centre of the weld. Zn was
found in semi-quantitative analysis as a constituent
of the intermetallic compounds.
Mechanical strength, measured in galvanised steel to
aluminium joints, does not show a simple correlation
with heat input and, thus, with intermetallic phase
thickness.

Table 6 Laser parameter used to weld galvanised steel to AA2024-T4

alloy (shear tests)
Spot diameter
[mm]

13

Fig. 10 SEM image of the edge of the weld shown in Fig. 8 and the
locations for EDS analysis

Travel speed
[m/min]

Power
density
[kW/cm2]

0.3

4.52

0.45

Interaction
time [s]

Energy
density
[kJ/cm2]

2.60

11.75

1.73

7.84

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6.

7.

8.

9.

Fig. 12 Shear strength of joints produced between galvanised steel

and AA2024 alloys

10.

11.

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