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A roll bonding process was developed to produce Al clad ferritic stainless steel foil for the metallic catalytic converter substrate application. Clad foils with different chemistry were produced and their properties were evaluated. Heat treatment conditions for the homogenization of clad foils were identified. This article includes results from oxidation tests and mechanical tests on as-rolled and heat treated clad foil. Results from commercial ingot metallurgy foil were also included for comparison. The oxidation weight gain study indicates that the Al content in the foils is directly related to the usable life of the foil. However, rare earth addition is necessary to improve the oxidation resistance of this material for the high temperature applications by slowing down the weight gain kinetics and thus extend the usable life of foils. The heat treated clad foil also exhibit excellent tensile ductility when compared to the ingot metallurgy foil.

A variety of clad metals of the copper-aluminum family are finding their way into electrical applications. Breakthroughs in technologies of bonding now make this generic group of materials, hitherto economically impractical, available for normal electrical uses in strip and the all new, wire form. These materials combine the conductivity and joinability of copper with the light weight and low cost of aluminum.

Stainless steel and stainless steel clad aluminum (bimetal) have been used for bright exterior trim for many years. The need to manufacture bright or colored trim with the same tools has led to the development of various coating systems to color stainless steel or bimetal trim. This paper describes the mechanisms of coatings disbondment that can occur on trim. Accelerated tests for determining disbondment resistance are described and the results from these tests for a wide range of coatings are presented. Coating systems that are acceptable for stainless steel and stainless steel clad aluminum are identified.

A number of factors are considered important when considering the choice of material for light vehicle bumpers. These include economics, styling, appearance, fabricability, and durability. Additional factors are introduced due to safety, fuel efficiency and environmental issues. As these issues become more stringent, the choice of material becomes more difficult because traditional materials are not able to provide all of the required properties. This paper describes clad materials systems which provide the required properties while introducing weight reduction in bumpers. Specific combinations of stainless steel and aluminum in a clad configuration have been used on automobiles and trucks for many years in a wide range of applications. These clad metal systems have all of the desirable properties of the individual components and provide a light weight alternative to the limitations of traditional materials.

Transition materials which are used to join dissimilar metals such as steel and aluminum on automobiles are described in this paper. The problems associated with conventional methods of joining these two metals include galvanic corrosion, brittle welds, reduced mechanical properties and reduced design flexibility. These problems are solved through the use of clad transition materials at the joints. Transition materials are fabricated by roll bonding dissimilar metals to form the clad materials and subsequently forming the materials to the desired configurations. The clad material allows the actual transition from one metal to the other to occur at the clad bond interface and thus only similar metal joints exist in the assembly. Welding studies describe the high strength and ductility of steel to aluminum joints through the use of steel clad aluminum transition materials.