1

Economics

• MIG welding consumables (wire, shielding gas) to join the conductive head to the aluminum beam add roughly ¥10–15 per piece
• Recyclability: once you cut off the conductive head, the remaining aluminum beam still carries the weld seam, which complicates re-welding

• We supply the aluminum beam pre-welded to the conductive head at no additional charge, cutting energy use and purchasing cost
• Recyclability: ① cutting off the diffusion-bonded conductive head leaves what’s effectively a new aluminum beam that you can still MIG-weld to a cast conductive head ② or you can cut off the conductive head and MIG-weld on a new diffusion-bonded head

2

Technical Characteristics

• Casting molten aluminum around the copper creates only a physical bond between copper and aluminum, not a metallurgical one
• Both copper and aluminum react readily — even tin-plating and similar treatments don’t stop the bonding interface from oxidizing significantly during casting, which lowers conductivity and weakens the bond
• Casting can introduce impurities while the aluminum is molten

• This solid-state welding process never melts the material, achieving a true metallurgical bond between copper and aluminum
• The welding process breaks up the oxide film at the copper-aluminum interface, producing a clean metallurgical bond with good conductivity and high bond strength
• This mechanized process reduces variability from manual work

3

Product Quality

• Cast conductive heads have lower dimensional accuracy; after MIG welding, the cathode beam’s appearance and consistency fall short of a machined product
• In the zinc electrowinning environment, the copper-aluminum bonding area corrodes easily, which can loosen the copper block and reduce conductivity and production efficiency

• This process achieves a copper-aluminum bond strength above 100 MPa, exceeding casting and explosion welding — for comparison, explosion welding typically reaches only around 70 MPa
• The finished, machined product delivers good dimensional accuracy

4

Environmental Requirements

• The process generates pollution — metal vapor from molten aluminum, casting, and MIG welding harms worker health
• Maintaining a clean working environment proves difficult

• The welding process runs safely and cleanly, with no fumes or radiation — a green welding technology
• Plants can easily mechanize and automate this process, achieving high efficiency with low demands on the working environment

5

Occupational Health

• Workers mainly face harmful gases and metal vapor from the aluminum/tin melting and casting process
• This process requires occupational protection measures

• This process creates no occupational hazards
• Workers need no protective measures