On the role of thickness reduction, powder amount and particle size on the bonding strength of Al/TiO2/Al laminates fabricated by the cold roll bonding process

In the present study, cold roll bonding (CRB) was performed to investigate the bonding behavior of the Al/TiO2/Al laminates at different thickness reductions of 50% and 65%. Additionally, the effects of applying micro and nano-sized TiO2 reinforcing particles atdifferent amounts of 0.5 and 2 (Wt. %) were investigated as well. Moreover, in an attempt to explore the material’s flow pattern, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) equipped with energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) was made use. In order to studythe bonding strength of the laminates peeling tests were carried out which revealed that applying the higher value of thickness reduction leads to an increase in the bonding strength at constant particle content. Furthermore, application of coarser reinforcementsoffered ameliorated bonding strength compared to that of the finer ones as there were extra bonding areas available in the specimens reinforced by micro-sized particles and thus more virgin metal was extruded through the channels. Applying different amounts ofpowder particles at constant thickness reduction with the same particle size revealed the fact that bonding strength was increased in low powder content amount as there were further paths available for the extrusion of the material and consecutively the bonding strengthincreased.