In pulsed electric current bonding, local heating at the contact area is accelerated. As the results, it is afraid that the powder as interlayer materials of joints is dispersed during the bonding. In this study 6063Al joints using powder as interlayer were formed at various bonding conditions such as powder (composition, mass), bonding pressure and electric wave (frequency, duty ratio). The powder loss and melted area at bonded joints were investigated to clarify the behavior of powder.
It was found that the powder is dispersed and melted around bonded interfaces during the pulsed electric current bonding. Powder loss ratio and melted area ratio at the joints increase with the increase of powder mass, initial current, duty ratio, and the decrease of bonding pressure. Phenomena of dispersion and melting using powder as interlayer are not affected by the current frequency and powder composition. The phenomenon of powder dispersion depends on the gas emission of H₂O and H₂ from powder. The decrease of powder mass and the initial current, and the increase of bonding pressure are recommended in the selection of bonding conditions to decrease the gas emission.