Search Results (4)

3003 aluminum alloy was widely used for the manufacturing of heat exchangers in the automotive industry by employing controlled atmosphere brazing (CAB) with NOCOLOK flux brazing technology. However, commercially available filler metals for NOCOLOK flux brazing technology are usually required to be carried out at a relatively high temperature, causing the assembled heat exchanger to be partially molten or easily deformed. A new low-melting-point brazing filler metal Al-5.0Si-20.5Cu-2.0Ni was prepared by using melt-spinning technology and then applied to CAB of 3003 aluminum alloy in this research. The solidus and liquidus of brazing filler metal was 513.21 °C and 532.48 °C. All elements were evenly distributed and free from elemental segregation. The microstructure of brazing filler metal was uniform, and the grain size was less than 500 nm. As the brazing temperature reached 575 °C, the void in the joint disappeared completely. The morphology of CuAl₂ was sensitive to the brazing temperature and dwell time. The appearance of net-like CuAl₂ brazed at 575 °C for 20 min was more beneficial to improve joint mechanical properties. The leakage rate of the joint was qualified to be 10⁻¹⁰ Pa·m³/s when the brazing temperature was 570 °C or higher. The maximum shear strength of 76.1 MPa can be obtained when the joint was brazed at 575 °C for 20 min. More dwell time induced growth of the interfacial layer and reduced joint shear strength. The open circuit potential and corrosion current density test indicated that the brazing filler metal Al-5.0Si-20.5Cu-2.0Ni had better corrosion resistance than that of 3003 aluminum alloy. Full article

Achieving a higher quality in wire arc additive manufacturing (WAAM) is a result of the development of welding metallurgy, the development of filler wires, and the control of the thermophysical properties of the electric arc. In this paper, the authors developed composite wires for WAAM with a Ni-LaF₃, Ni-LaB₆ coating. The addition of LaF₃, LaB₆, and SF₆ increases specific heat, thermal conductivity, enthalpy, and degree of plasma ionization, which leads to the increase in the transfer of heat from the arc plasma to the wire and to the change in the balance of forces during wire melting. The increase in the Lorentz electromagnetic force and the decrease in the surface tension force made it possible to reduce the droplet diameter and the number of short circuits during wire melting. The change in the thermophysical properties of the plasma and droplet transfer with the addition of LaF₃, LaB₆, and SF₆ made it possible to increase the welding current, penetration depth, accuracy of the geometric dimensions of products in WAAM, reduce the wall thickness of products, and refine the microstructure of the weld metal using G3Si1, 316L, AlMg5Mn1Ti, and CuCr0.7 wires. Full article

A new type of low melting point Al-Si-Cu (Ni) filler metal for brazed 6063 aluminum alloy was designed, and the microstructure and properties of the filler metal were systematically studied. The results show that when the content of Cu in the Al-Si-Cu filler metal increased from 10 wt.% to 20 wt.%, the liquidus temperature of the filler metal decreased from 587.8 °C to 533.4 °C. Its microstructures were mainly composed of the α-Al phase, a primary Si phase, and a θ(Al₂Cu) phase. After a proper amount of Ni was added to the Al-Si-20Cu filler metal, its melting range was narrowed, the spreading wettability was improved, and the microstructure was refined. Its microstructure mainly includes α-Al solid solution, Si particles, and θ(Al₂Cu) and δ(Al₃Ni₂) intermetallic compounds. The results of the shear strength test indicate that the shear strength of the brazed joint with Al-6.5Si-20Cu-2.0Ni filler metal was 150.4 MPa, which was 28.32% higher than that of the brazed joint with Al-6.5Si-20Cu filler metal. Full article

The vacuum brazing of dissimilar electronic packaging materials has been investigated. In this research, this applies silicon particle-reinforced aluminum matrix composites (Si_p/Al MMCs) to Kovar alloys. Active melt-spun ribbons were employed as brazing filler metals under different joining temperatures and times. The results showed that the maximum joint shear strength of 96.62 MPa was achieved when the joint was made using Al-7.5Si-23.0Cu-2.0Ni-1.0Ti as the brazing filler metal at 580 °C for 30 min. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis of the joint indicated that the main phases were composed of Al, Si and intermetallics, including CuAl, TiFeSi, TiNiSi and Al₃Ti. When the brazing temperature ranged from 570 °C to 590 °C, the leakage rate of joints remained at 10⁻⁸ Pa·m³/s or better. When the joint was made using Al-7.5Si-23.0Cu-2.0Ni-2.5Ti as the brazing filler metal at 580 °C for 30 min, the higher level of Ti content in the brazing filler metal resulted in the formation of a flake-like Ti(AlSi)₃ intermetallic phase with an average size of 7 µm at the interface between the brazing seam and Si_p/Al MMCs. The joint fracture was generally in the form of quasi-cleavage fracture, which primarily occurred at the interface between the filler metal and the Si_p/Al MMCs. The micro-crack propagated not only Ti(AlSi)₃, but also the Si particles in the substrate. Full article