Magnetic pulse welding on the cutting edge of industrial applications

Abstract

Magnetic Pulse Welding (MPW) applies the electromagnetic principles postulated in the XIXth century and later demonstrated. In recent years the process has been developed to meet highly demanding market needs involving dissimilar material joining, specially involving difficult-to-weld materials. It is a very high speed joining process that uses an electromagnetic force to accelerate one material against the other, resulting in a solid state weld with no external heat source and no thermal distortions. A high power source, the capacitor, a discharge switch and a coil constitute the minimum equipment necessary for this process. A high intensity current flowing through a coil near an electrically conductive material, locally produce an intense magnetic field that generates eddy currents in the flyer according to Lenz law. The induced electromotive force gives rise to a current whose magnetic field opposes the original change in magnetic flux. The effect of this secondary current moving in the primary magnetic field is the generation of a Lorentz force, which accelerates the flyer at a very high speed. If a piece of material is placed in the trajectory of the flyer, the impact will produce an atomic bond in a solid state weld. This paper discusses the fundamentals of the process in terms of phenomenology and analytical modeling and numerical simulation. Recent industrial applications are presented in terms of materials, joint configurations and real examples as well as advantages and disadvantages of the process.