The invention relates to a brazable three-layered aluminium composite material having at least three layers with at least two different aluminium alloys, whereby an inner layer of the at least three layers is an aluminium brazing layer made from an aluminium brazing alloy, the other layers are configured as covering layers and include at least one further aluminium alloy, wherein the at least one further aluminium alloy has a higher solidus temperature than the liquidus temperature of the aluminium brazing alloy. The individual covering layers have a thickness which exceeds the thickness of the aluminium brazing layer by at least a factor of 1.5, preferably by a factor of 5. The brazable aluminium composite material is simply structured, has good brazing properties for the production of butt-joint brazing connections, significantly reduces the risk of a burning through of brazed-on components and provides sufficient mechanical properties.

An inexpensive bonding method is provided to bond materials constituted of an aluminum-based metal to each other at a low temperature and a low pressure while inhibiting deformation, without requiring the use of a flux and minimizing the influence on the base materials and the periphery. Also provided are various bonded parts obtained by the bonding method. An insert material comprising Zn as an element that undergoes a eutectic reaction with Al is interposed between two materials constituted of an aluminum-based metal. The two materials are heated, while being pressed against each other, to a temperature at which the eutectic reaction takes place, thereby generating, at the bonding interface between the two materials, a melt due to the eutectic reaction with some of the Al contained in the base materials and discharging the Al oxide films from the bonding interface together with the melt. Thus, the two materials are bonded.

A housing for a control unit of a motor vehicle has a housing element and a further element attached to the housing element by way of a joining technique that does not include a joining layer or by way of a joining layer. The housing element has a main body composed of a light metal and a protective layer applied to the main body. The protective layer is arranged between the main body and the attached further element. The invention further relates to a method for producing a housing and to a control unit.

A coating for a carrier material made of a steel material for joining to an aluminum material includes a first sublayer on the core part side and a second sublayer on the outside. On average, the coating includes approximately 1 to 10 wt. % silicon and iron, the remainder being aluminum. The first sublayer at least approximately includes 42 wt. % iron, 11 wt. % silicon, and no more than approximately 45 wt. % aluminum, which constitutes the remainder, and has a thickness of no more than approximately 3.5 m. The second sublayer includes approximately 1 to 10 wt. % silicon, the remainder being aluminum, and has a thickness of approximately 5 to approximately 95 mm.

A description is given of a process for producing a metal plate having at least one embedded heating element and of the metal plate produced by the process. The heating element is arranged between two plate bodies, and the heating element is embedded in the plate bodies by rolling with material displacement. The adjacent sides of the plate bodies have a layer of aluminum or an aluminum alloy. After a heat pre-treatment at the re-crystallization temperature of the aluminum or the aluminum alloy, the plate bodies are pressed against one another to bring about a reduction in thickness, with which the plate bodies form a diffusion bond with one another and are integrally bonded to one another over the entire surface area thereof to form the metal plate to be produced. The process produces a metal plate as a whole with better thermal conductivity and a broader spectrum of use.

The invention concerns a brazing sheet comprising a core layer (5) and a braze cladding, said core layer (5) being aluminium or an aluminium alloy, said braze cladding comprising (a) a flux composite layer (2), which flux composite layer comprises a matrix of aluminium or an aluminium alloy, said matrix containing flux particles; (b) at least one filler alloy layer (1) not containing flux particles; and, (c) an aluminium or aluminium alloy layer (3) not containing flux particles, said layer forming the outermost surface of at least one side of the brazing sheet, wherein the flux composite layer (a) is positioned between said filler alloy layer (b) and said aluminium or aluminium alloy layer (c). The invention further concerns a method for its manufacturing, a cladding plate, use of the brazing sheet and a brazed heat exchanger.

A system and method of braze resistance spot welding of an aluminum component to a galvanized steel component involve providing an aluminum-side electrode having a first tip defining a rounded shape, providing a galvanized steel-side electrode having a second tip defining a flat shape, depositing a braze filler material between the aluminum and galvanized steel components at a desired location for a spot weld, performing a pre-heat including providing a first current across the electrodes for a first period such that the braze filler melts and removes a portion of a zinc coating from the galvanized steel component, and after performing the pre-heat, performing a spot weld between the aluminum and galvanized steel components by providing a second current across the electrodes for a second period such that the aluminum melts and the galvanized steel does not melt, wherein the second current is greater than the first current.

An interlayered structure for joining of dissimilar materials, includes a first material substrate, a second material substrate having a composition dissimilar from a composition of the first material substrate, and a plurality of interlayers disposed between the first material substrate and the second material substrate, including a first interlayer nearest to the first material substrate and a last interlayer nearest to the second material substrate. The first interlayer has a composition selected to have a maximum solid solubility within the composition of the first material substrate that is greater than or equal to the other interlayers' solubility within the composition of the first material substrate. The last interlayer has a composition selected to have a maximum solid solubility within the composition of the second material substrate that is greater than or equal to the other interlayers' solubility within the composition of the second material substrate. At least one of the plurality of interlayers is a sintered powder interlayer.

The invention concerns a method for the manufacturing of a clad sheet product comprising a core layer (6) and at least one cladding layer, the method comprising rolling an assembly of a core layer and at least one cladding layer and reducing the thickness to a desired gauge, the core layer being made of an aluminium alloy, the at least one cladding layer comprising a centre section (2) and at least two edge sections (4, 5) positioned at opposite sides of the centre section (2) along the edges of the at least one cladding layer, the centre section being made of a material being an aluminium alloy or a composite material comprising a matrix of aluminium or an aluminium alloy, the edge sections along (4, 5) the edges being made of a material different from the material of the centre section, wherein the edge sections (4, 5) are cut off during or after the rolling. The invention further concerns a cladding plate useful in the method.

A laminate structure and method of forming is provided. The laminate structure includes a first metal sheet having a first thickness, a second metal sheet having a second thickness, and an adhesive core having an adhesive thickness. The adhesive core is disposed between and bonded to the first and second metal sheets. The first and second metal sheets are made of an aluminum based material and the adhesive core is made of an adhesive material also described as a viscoelastic adhesive material. The laminate structure is configured such that a ratio of the sum of the first and second thickness to the adhesive thickness is greater than either to one (8:1). The laminate structure including the viscoelastic adhesive core is characterized by a composite loss factor at 1,000 Hertz which is continuously greater than 0.1 within a temperature range of 25 degrees Celsius to 50 degrees Celsius.