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Wettability and stress concentration are the main challenges affecting the engineering application of copper/alumina dissimilar joints. In this paper, continuous drive friction welding of copper to alumina was conducted using 2.5 mm thick AA1100 aluminum as interlayer. The effects of friction pressure and friction time on the tensile strength of joints were evaluated, and the interface microstructure evolution and fracture morphologies were also analyzed. Obvious mutual diffusion occurred at the alumina/aluminum and aluminum/copper interfaces, enhancing wettability and proving metallurgical bonding. Microcracks formed in alumina base due to thermo-mechanical coupling effect in welding. As increasing friction pressure and friction time, the tensile strength increased till reaching a peak value of 35 MPa, and then decreased. The optimized parameters were determined as friction pressure of 12 MPa and friction time of 12 s. All samples failed at the aluminum/alumina interface, leaving a pit structure on alumina base. The application of pure aluminum interlayer is essential to obtain sound copper/alumina joints by diminishing stress concentration and wetting alumina, and the optimized residual aluminum layer is about 0.47 mm thick. The friction interface transferred from alumina/aluminum to inner plasticized aluminum layer, and then moved to aluminum/copper till the welding process finished. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]