A different material joining method sandwiches, with electrodes, a first joining member and a second joining member lower in melting point than the first member, applies pressure and electricity to them, and joins them in preset joint parts. The method includes forming a discontinuous abutting part beforehand in the joint part of at least one of the two members. The two members abut onto the abutting part in a discontinuous state. The method includes melting the second member by sandwiching the joint parts with the electrodes and applying pressure and electricity on the joint parts in a state where the two members abut onto each other in the joint parts while the abutting part is included. The method includes welding both the members by bringing a melting material of the second member into interface joining with a surface of the first member toward the second member.

A welded blank assembly is formed by welding first and second sheet metal pieces together at a weld joint. At least one of the sheet metal pieces includes a boron steel or press hardenable steel base material layer and an aluminum-based coating material layer, along with a weld notch where at least a portion of the coating material layer is removed before welding. An additional material can be provided during welding to influence weld joint composition and/or a secondary heat source can be used to heat and flow a protective material in a weld region of the blank assembly. The weld notch has a width that may be related to the width of a heat-affected zone formed during welding.

An apparatus and method for fastening dissimilar materials like steel, plastic and aluminum. A resistance welding fastener having multiple layers may be used with or without a sealant. The fastener may be used to form an aluminum covered steel laminate via a hemming pattern of attachment. The fastener may have a solid shaft or have an extended reach and have features for interacting with the welding electrode. A variety of electrode tips may be employed to cooperate with the fastener.

A brazing material is interposed between an aluminum-based material and an iron-based material plated with Ni. The brazing material has a structure in which an Al—Si—Ni based alloy layer and an Al layer are bonded via a flux layer. A structure for brazing is formed such that the Al—Si—Ni based alloy layer is located on the aluminum-based material side and the Al layer is located on the iron-based material side. The structure is heated in a furnace and is thereafter cooled, thereby obtaining a brazed joint body in which the Ni plating that is a barrier layer remains and an Al—Ni layer is formed.

Disclosed is a method for manufacturing an equal-strength steel thin-wall welding component with an aluminum or aluminum-alloy plating, wherein the plating comprises an intermetallic compound alloy layer in contact with the base body and a metal alloy layer on the intermetallic compound alloy layer; the plating is not removed or thinned before or during welding; and by presetting a welding gap and using a carbon-manganese-steel welding wire, a welding process and protective gas for welding, the tensile strength of a welding seam of the welding component after hot stamping processing is greater than the tensile strength of a base metal, and the elongation of a welded joint is greater than 4% Further disclosed are a welding wire for welding and an equal-strength steel thin-wall welding component with an aluminum or aluminum-alloy plating.

A method for manufacturing a joint structure of dissimilar materials, the method includes: forming a low-temperature thermal spray coating on at least a part of a surface of an aluminum or aluminum alloy material by low-temperature thermal spraying a metal powder of at least one metal selected from the group consisting of pure iron, carbon steel, stainless steel, nickel, a nickel alloy, cobalt, and a cobalt alloy; overlapping the aluminum or aluminum alloy material and a steel material such that the low-temperature thermal spray coating and the steel material face each other; and joining the aluminum or aluminum alloy material and the steel material by laser a welding from a steel material side, in which the joining is performed under welding conditions in which a fusion zone is formed in the steel material, the low-temperature thermal spray coating, and the aluminum or aluminum alloy material.

A method of adding a reinforcement to a metal blank prior to a forming process. The reinforcement is attached via ultrasonic additive manufacturing (UAM) to create a composite blank which is then subjected to a forming process to bend and deform the composite blank and form a reinforced vehicle component. The reinforcement is placed on the metal blank such that after being subjected to the forming process, there is reinforcement in key areas of the formed vehicle component. The reinforcement results in the final formed vehicle component having enhanced properties such as lower density, increased strength, stiffness, or energy absorption capabilities.

Provided is a method for joining two dissimilar metal plates having different volume resistivity to increase joint strength of the metal plates. The method includes: overlapping a first metal plate including a first metal and a second metal plate including a second metal, the second metal having volume resistivity higher than the first metal and being different from the first metal, and bringing a pair of electrodes into contact with a surface of an overlapped portion of the first metal plate that is overlapped with the second metal plate; and applying current between the electrodes so as to melt the first metal present at a current-flowing region of the overlapped portion due to heat generated by resistance to form an intermetallic compound of the first and the second metals between the first and the second metal plates and join the first and the second metal plates via the intermetallic compound.

A method for joining two dissimilar metal plates having different volume resistivity with enhanced joint strength. The method includes overlaying a first metal plate made of first metal and a second metal plate made of second metal with higher volume resistivity and higher melting point in comparison with the first metal, bringing a pair of electrodes into contact with the surface of a portion of the second metal plate overlapping the first metal plate, supplying current between the electrodes so as to resistance-heat the second metal present in a current-flowing region to a temperature lower than the melting point of the second metal and higher than the melting point of the first metal, thereby partially melting the first metal plate with the heat so that an intermetallic compound is generated between the first and second metal plates, and thus joining the first and second metal plates via the intermetallic compound.

Disclosed is a different-strength steel welding component with an aluminum or aluminum-alloy plating formed by means of butt welding of a high-strength steel plate and a low-strength steel plate, and each of the high-strength steel plate and the low-strength steel plate comprises a base body and at least one pure aluminum or aluminum-alloy plating on a surface of the base body. The tensile strength of a welding seam of the welding component after hot stamping is greater than the tensile strength of a low-strength steel base metal, and the elongation is greater than 4%, such that application requirements of the welding component in the field of automobile hot stamping are met. The present disclosure also relates to a method for manufacturing a different-strength steel welding component with an aluminum or aluminum-alloy plating and a welding wire used in the method.