Multilayered metallic sheets fabricated using hot metal forming processes are increasingly employed as structural components in the aerospace and automotive industries, owing to their favorable combination of high strength, stiffness, and low weight. For load-bearing applications, the integrity of the metallurgical bond between adjacent layers is a key performance factor [1]. Although it is widely recognized that process variables such as temperature, deformation level, and deformation rate govern the resulting bond strength, a direct and robust functional relationship linking these conditions to bond strength is still lacking. The present study investigates the bonding of Aluminum-6061 alloy specimens joined by hot compression bonding. Hot compression tests were performed at 〖400〗^∘ C, and under different strain rates in the range of 〖10〗^(-2)–〖10〗^(-1) " " s^(-1). Bond strength is quantified using post-bonding mechanical debonding tests followed by SEM characterization of the fracture surface. Coupled thermo-mechanical finite element (FE) models are developed to compute the time-dependent thermo-mechanical fields along the specimen interface. Computed fields are subsequently used to extract key physical parameters and to define threshold conditions associated with bond formation and bond strength [2]. It will be shown that during the bonding process, the thermomechanical fields are highly inhomogeneous across the interface leading to inhomogeneous bonding conditions for all bonding criteria. These findings are shown to correlate with the metallurgical findings enabling a computational prediction of the true bonded area in the hot compression tests and subsequent prediction of bond strength.