Magnetic pulse welding is based on the high velocity impact of two joining partners and a promising technology especially for the joining of dissimilar metallic components. Under proper conditions, a solid-state bond forms at the overlapping interface that is typically at least as strong as the weaker base material. However, high thermal and mechanical loads act on the tool coil and provoke a limited lifetime. Furthermore, the prevalent magnetic fields obstruct a comprehensive process monitoring with conventional means. In this manuscript, approaches for reducing the load on the tool coil without compromising the joint quality are presented. This is obtained by an adaption of the coil geometry and the application of a boundary layer on one of the joining partners. Moreover, a new measuring system taking advantage of the naturally occurring impact flash is evaluated and successfully applied for the process development and detection of process disturbances.

doi: 10.17729/ebis.2017.5/10