Aluminum/Stainless Steel Clad Materials Fabricated via Spark Plasma Sintering

Aluminum (Al)/stainless steel (SUS) clad materials were fabricated via the process of spark plasma sintering (SPS) using Al powder/bulk and an SUS sheet. Three Al/SUS clad types were fabricated: powder/bulk (P/B), bulk/bulk (B/B), and bulk/powder/bulk (B/P/B). During the SPS, Al and SUS reacted with each other, and intermetallic compounds were created in the clads. The thermal conductivity and thermal-expansion coefficient were measured using a laser flash analyzer and dynamic mechanical analyzer, respectively. The Al/SUS (P/B) clad had a thermal conductivity of 159.5 W/mK and coefficient of thermal expansion of 15.3 × 10(−6)/°C. To analyze the mechanical properties, Vickers hardness and three-point bending tests were conducted. The Al/SUS (P/B) clad had a flexural strength of about 204 MPa. The Al/SUS clads fabricated via SPS in this study are suitable for use in applications in various engineering fields requiring materials with high heat dissipation and high heat resistance.