Soldering of copper plated aluminum

- Aluminum is the most widely used non ferrous metal because of its high thermal/electrical conductivity, low specific gravity andrelatively low price (compared with copper).In recent years the steadily increasing price of copper hos broughtthe introduction of aluminum as on economic alternative in electricaland industrial applications.An important problem in using aluminum is the difficulty associatedwith its joining by soldering or brazing to itself or to other metals.This is attributed mainly to the high affinity of aluminum for oxygenand the rapid formation of oxide films on the surfaces to be joined.These oxide films act os barriers preventing joint formation.Copper was electro-deposited on aluminum substrate to facilitatethe soldering process of aluminum.This experimental investigation was conducted to establish theoptimum anodizing conditions of aluminum substrate before copper platingand the optimum soldering conditions for joining components mode ofcopper plated aluminum.Single lop os well os plug-and-ring test specimens were usedto measure the shear strength of the soldered joints.Porous anodizing before copper plating was carried out in order toincrease the adhesion of copper deposited on the aluminum surface.