Joining steel to aluminum with Triclad

It is common knowledge that both steel and aluminum have certain properties that are extremely desirable in the marine industry. But since the beginning of the maritime use of aluminum alloys, the question has been how to combine two such different metals so that the advantages of both can be maximized without compromising the overall design?

Du Pont recognized the need for such a solution in the marine industry and in 1966 began developing a clad plate to facilitate the bonding of the aluminum superstructure to the steel deck. The resulting clad plate is a triclad in which 5ì56 aluminum alloy is bonded to A5l6 grade 55 steel, with a bonding layer of commercially pure 1100 series aluminum between the structural materials.

Triclad joining strips are bimetallic strips or blocks used to join different metals together using welding technology available in shipyards.

How do the different materials behave with each other?

Even though the coefficients of aluminum and steel remain different, the metals still hold together and cause no problems. Because the joint is uniform, the mechanical loads are lower than conventional mechanical joints with nail, rivet or bolt. The load is much lower than the tensile strength of the joint with Triclad® strips.