Bimetallic Aluminum/Steel Auto Body Panels

This paper discusses the problems associated with aluminum/steel bimetallic panels such as warping in paint bake cycles, paint peeling and other corrosion effects. Several joining methods used for bimetallic assemblies, such as stapling, adhesive bonding and spot welding are presented. Corrosion test data is presented to indicate the favorable and unfavorable reactions of different paint systems and to compare the different joining procedures used on the bimetallic aluminum/steel panels.