UNIVERSITI KUALA LUMPUR MALAYSIA FRANCE INSTITUTE

FWB 24403 - JOINING TECHNOLOGY

Brazing

Brazing is a joining process wherein metals are bonded together using a filler metal with a
melting (liquidus) temperature greater than 450 °C (840 °F), but lower than the melting
temperature of the base metal. Only the filler material melts, allowing that filler to solidify to
produce joint strength. Filler metals are generally alloys of silver (Ag), aluminum (Al), gold
(Au), copper (Cu), cobalt (Co) or nickel (Ni). The filler material, or filler, is necessarily of a
different composition than the base materials and is distributed between close-fitting surfaces
of the joint by surface wetting.

Capillary action plays a major role in filler flow through the joint, while surface wetting plays
a major role in the filler’s spreading. Chemical bonds are formed between the filler material
and the base materials, and substantial diffusion of elements in the filler into the base
material, and vice versa, almost always occur. Braze fillers can be metallic, for joining metals
or ceramics to themselves or to one another, or they can be ceramics for joining ceramics to
ceramics.

To be a true brazing process, all of the following criteria must be met:

1. joint elements must be joined without melting the base materials involved;
2. a filler must be used;
3. the filler material must have a liquidus temperature above 4500C (8400F);
4. the filler material must wet the base material surfaces;
5. the filler must be drawn into or held in the joint by capillary action, depending on whether
the filler is added during brazing or preplaced prior to brazing.

Differences between brazing and fusion welding.

1. The composition (or chemistry) of the brazing alloy is significantly different from that of
the base metal
2. The strength of the brazing alloy is usually lower than that of the base metal
3. The melting point of the brazing alloy is lower than that of the base metal, so none of the
base metal is melted
4. Bonding required capillary attraction to distribute the filler metal between the closely
fitting surfaces of the joint

Figure 1 schematically illustrates some of the key differences between brazing and fusion
welding.

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FWB 24403 - JOINING TECHNOLOGY
Advantages and Disadvantages of Brazing

Advantages

1. No melting of base material(s)

2. Little or no effect on the composition or microstructure of base material(s)
3. Excellent for joining dissimilar material types and compositions within a type
4. Allows large area bonding, so distributes stress evenly over a large area
5. Allows joining of a wide variety of thicknesses, especially thin-to-thin and thin-to-thick
6. Allows joining of porous materials (e.g., powder-processed parts)
7. Provides affordable fabrication of complex, multi component assemblies
8. Allows simultaneous production of joints en masse
9. Gives rise to very low distortion and/or residual stresses, if CTEs are matched
10. Easy to automate, suitable for batch or continuous processing

Disadvantages

1. May exhibit limited elevated temperature service and stability

2. Can exhibit a pronounced notch effect due to the thinness of the braze layer, often
exacerbated by an intermetallic reaction layer
3. Requires fluxing or atmosphere control and removal of flux residue
4. Requires use of parts arranged with controlled gaps or clearance at joints
5. Challenges inspection; demands NDE

PRINCIPLES OF BRAZE PROCESS OPERATION

Capillary flow is the dominant physical principle that ensures good brazements. In general,
the brazed joint is one of relatively large area and very small thickness, and the process of
brazing is predominantly controlled by surface conditions.

In the simplest application of the brazing process, four critical steps are involved.

1. First, the surfaces to be joined must be cleaned to remove all contaminants, including
oxide or tarnish layers on metallic substrates.

2. Second, in brazing metals and alloys, the surfaces must be coated with a material
called a ‘‘flux,’’ capable of dissolving solid metal oxides or other tarnish compounds
(e.g., sulfides, carbonates) still present and preventing re-oxidation.

3. Third, the joint area must be heated until the flux melts and cleans the base materials
through its chemical reactivity; the flux then protects the cleaned substrate against
further oxidation by remaining as a layer of liquid flux.

4. Fourth, the brazing material must be melted at some point on the surface of the joint,
displacing any flux through the combination of its higher density and its lowering of
the surface free energy compared to the flux substrate interface and wetting and
spreading throughout the joint to effect the formation of the chemical bonds.

Instead of fluxes, brazing is sometimes performed with an active gaseous atmosphere, such as
hydrogen, for parts needing cleaning, or an atmosphere of inert gas or vacuum for parts that
are already clean. When atmospheres are used, the need for post-braze cleaning of the
potentially corrosive and usually hydroscopic flux residues is eliminated.

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FWB 24403 - JOINING TECHNOLOGY
Joints to be brazed are usually made with relatively small clearances between lapped joint
elements, typically 0.025 - 0.25mm (0.001 - 0.010 in.). High fluidity of the molten filler is
thus an important characteristic. Joint assembly for proper positioning, alignment, and fit-up
(or gapping) usually requires tooling or fixturing which includes some means of ensuring the
proper gap (e.g., shims). Shrinkage stresses arising from the volume change of the filler as it
solidifies and from thermal contraction are usually low compared to fusion welding, so
brazed joints are made in a relatively stress-free condition.

In summary, brazing is an economically attractive process for the production of high-

strength, metallurgical-quality bonds, while preserving desired base material properties and
achieving precision tolerances.

BRAZING PROCESSES

General Description of Brazing Processes

Brazing processes are customarily designated according to the source or method of heating,
not unlike welding processes. Manual processes are possible but automated processes
predominate, mostly because so much of the formation of sound joints is the result of the
naturally occurring, capillary force driven process. Some processes restrict heating to the
joint proper (especially if only one joint needs to be brazed), while others uniformly heat the
entire assembly of parts making up the brazement. The methods currently of most industrial
significance, and described in detail in the following subsections, are torch brazing, furnace
brazing, induction brazing, resistance brazing, dip brazing, infrared brazing, and diffusion
brazing. Several specialized brazing processes are also worth noting, including laser brazing,
electron beam brazing, microwave brazing, ultrasonic brazing, combustion synthesis or
exothermic brazing, vapour phase brazing, and step-brazing. Braze welding, although often
considered a brazing process, is actually a variant of welding or brazing.

Classification of Brazing Processes by Energy Source

Chemical Heat Sources

1. Torch Brazing (TB)*
2. (Gas) Furnace Brazing (FB)**
3. Exothermic Brazing (via SHS or CS)*
4. Vapor-Phase Brazing (VPB)**

Electrical Heat Sources

1. (Electric) Furnace Brazing**
2. Chemical Dip Brazing (DB)**
3. Molten Metal Dip Brazing (DB)**
4. Induction Brazing (IB)*
5. Infrared Brazing (IRB)*
6. Diffusion Brazing (DFB)
- Reaction Brazing**
- Transient Liquid-Phase Bonding (TLPB)**
7. Resistance (Blanket) Brazing (RB)**
8. Laser Beam Brazing (LBB)*
9. Electron Beam Brazing (EBB)*

*Localized heating of the joint

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FWB 24403 - JOINING TECHNOLOGY
**Generalized heating of the entire assembly

Torch Brazing

Torch brazing (TB) is accomplished by heating the joint area locally with one or more oxy-
fuel gas torches a typical example is shown in Figure 2. Depending on the temperature
(depending on the filler to be melted) and amount of heat required (related to the thermal
mass to be heated), the fuel gas can be, among others, natural gas, MAPP gas, propane, or
acetylene burned with air, compressed air, or pressurized oxygen. Torches for accomplishing
brazing are identical to those used for oxy-fuel gas welding and can be used manually or
automatically (i.e., in machine operation). Single or multiple flame tips are available, with the
multiple tips being employed for larger, heavier brazements. During torch brazing, filler may
be preplaced at the joint in the form of rings (e.g., for tubular assemblies), washers, strips,
slugs, shims, powder, or special shapes (i.e., preforms) or may be fed from hand-held wire or
rod. Fluxes should always be used.

Figure 2 A typical application of manual torch brazing; here, oxy-fuel gas-torch brazing of a
fitting onto a hydraulic line

Furnace Brazing

Furnace brazing (FB) is used exclusively where the parts to be brazed can be assembled with
the filler material preplaced in or near the joint(s). It is particularly applicable for high
production numbers and rates. Preplaced filler can be in the form of wire, foil, filings, slugs,
shims, powder, paste (with flux mixed in), tape, or shapes (i.e., preforms).

Fluxing is used except when an atmosphere is specifically introduced into the furnace to
perform the same shielding and/or reducing function it does in fusion welding. Hydrogen and
either exothermic or endothermic combusted gases are usually used for reduction, while inert
gas (e.g., usually argon) is used for protecting reactive metals from oxidation. Vacuum
atmospheres on the order of 10-2 or 10-5 atmospheres (or low) are also widely used, especially
in aerospace, and often preclude the need for and use of flux, whose residue must be totally
removed by post-braze cleaning to avoid later corrosion. Vacuum brazing cannot be
performed with certain high vapor-pressure fillers or base materials, however. Furnaces are
either batch or continuous types, are heated by electrical resistance elements or gas or oil
flames, and should have automatic time and temperature and, possibly, atmosphere controls.
Cooling chambers or forced atmosphere injection cooling is often used to speed up and
control solidification for metallurgical purposes and subsequent cooling of the assembly for
productivity purposes. Figure 3 shows a typical furnace brazing operation.
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Figure 3 A typical furnace brazing facility

Induction, Resistance, and Microwave Brazing

The heat necessary for brazing with the induction brazing (IB) process is obtained from an
electric current induced in the parts to be brazed. Heating can be restricted to the immediate
area to be brazed or can be more general. Typically, water-cooled coils carrying high-
frequency alternating current are used by being placed in close proximity to the parts to be
brazed, but not as a part of the electric circuit. Figure 4 illustrates some examples of induction
brazing coils, the design of which involves a degree of art beyond science.

Brazing filler is usually preplaced during induction brazing, with forms being similar to those
used with furnace brazing. Careful joint design and coil setup are essential to ensure that all
surfaces of all members of the joint reach the brazing temperature at the same time.
Otherwise, filler flow will not occur as intended. Flux is used with this process, except when
an atmosphere (often a vacuum) is specifically employed.

The three common sources of high-frequency alternating electric current for performing
induction brazing are (1) the motor–generator (5,000–10,000 Hz); (2) the resonant spark gap
(20,000–300,000 Hz); and (3) the vacuum tube or solid-state oscillator (20,000–5,000,000
Hz). The depth of heating is determined by the frequency of the power source. Higher
frequencies produce shallower heating, until finally only ‘‘skin heating’’ occurs. The rate of
heating is always fairly fast for brazing and soldering processes, typically 10 seconds to 1
minute. Part thicknesses for induction brazing are generally thin, in the range of up to 3mm
(0.125 in).

A related process is resistance brazing (RB), where joint heating is produced by the resistance
at the joint contact surfaces for current introduced through electrodes that make the
brazement part of the electric circuit. Conventional resistance welding machines are typically
used, with alternating current. The particular advantage of resistance brazing is very rapid
heating capability.
A specialized form of brazing also closely related to induction brazing is microwave brazing
(MWB). While still used only for highly specialized applications (e.g., brazing TSP diamond
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and tungsten carbide in cutting tools), it can be very effective for what would otherwise be
very difficult brazing challenges.

Figure 4 Schematic illustrations showing representative induction brazing coils and devices.

Dip Brazing

There are two methods of dip brazing (DB): (1) chemical bath dip brazing and (2) molten
metal bath dip brazing. In chemical bath dip brazing, the filler, in suitable form, is preplaced
in or near the joint and the assembly is immersed in a bath of molten salt.

Molten salts have high specific heat capacities and high thermal conductivities, and so are
excellent for furnishing the heat needed for brazing. In addition, the molten salts are usually
aggressive enough to provide the necessary fluxing/cleaning action and oxidation protection.
If not, a suitable flux may be required that would normally be floated on the surface of the
denser molten salt. In molten metal bath dip brazing, the parts to be brazed are immersed in a
bath of the molten brazing filler alloy. The parts must be first cleaned and fluxed (if
necessary), and a cover of molten flux should be maintained over the molten metal bath to
protect it from oxidation. Figure 5 schematically illustrates a typical dip brazing setup.

The dip brazing process is usually restricted to small parts and, since the entire assembly is
heated to the brazing temperature and may be exposed to aggressive chemicals, the assembly
must be tolerant of heating to the required temperatures, corrosive chemicals, and subsequent
aggressive cleaning to remove embedded salt from the chemical bath dip process. A
particular advantage of the molten metal bath dip process is that many braze joints can be

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made at the same time in a complex assembly, because the molten metal bath provides filler
at the same time it provides heating.

Figure 5 Schematic illustration of a typical dip brazing setup.

Infrared Brazing

Infrared brazing (IRB) uses infrared (IR) heating through irradiation with long-wavelength
light in the visible spectrum. High-wattage (e.g., 5,000 watt) lamps like those sometimes used
to preheat welds are often used. These lamps should be placed close to the workpiece, since
heat input intensity drops off as the square of the distance from the source. It is best if the
lamps follow the contour of the parts closely (to provide uniform proximity), but it is not
essential. Heating can take place in air, vacuum, or under inert atmosphere. After heating, the
part is moved out of the IR source, often to cooling platens.

The infrared brazing process is particularly suited to the brazing of very thin materials such
as honeycomb and honeycomb sandwich panels used in aerospace applications. It is rarely
used with material thicker than approximately 1.3mm (0.05 in).

Diffusion Brazing and Transient Liquid-Phase Bonding

Unlike the previous brazing processes, diffusion brazing (DFB) is not defined by its heating
source but, rather, by the mechanism involved in forming the bond at the joint.

A joint is formed by holding the brazement at a suitable temperature for sufficient time to
allow mutual diffusion of the base and filler metals. Rather than the filler melting and
flowing, the liquid that fills the joint is produced from a reaction between the filler and the
base material, producing a transient liquid phase, actually a eutectic constituent.

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For the preceding reasons the process is also called ‘‘reaction brazing’’ or transient liquid
phase bonding (TLPB). Solidification occurs isothermally (i.e., without cooling) because the
solidus of the new composition of the joint produced by diffusion is higher than the
temperature at which the eutectic reaction initially occurred. The resulting joint ends up with
a composition considerably different from either the filler or the base materials, and no filler
should be discernible in the final microstructure of a properly produced joint.

The typical thickness of base materials that are diffusion brazed ranges from foil to several
inches (i.e., more than 50 mm). Relatively heavy parts can be brazed using this process
because the process is not sensitive to joint thickness. Many brazements can be made by DFB
that are difficult or impossible to make by other brazing methods.

The diffusion brazing process produces much stronger joints than normal brazing processes,
frequently approaching the strength of the base material (i.e., yielding joint efficiencies of
near or over 100%). Butt and lap joints, in particular, exhibit excellent mechanical properties.
Mechanical fixturing or tack welding may be required to hold parts together during brazing.
Unlike diffusion welding, however, no auxiliary pressure is needed. On the other hand, DFB
requires a relatively long time (1 - 24 hours) to complete, but many joints can usually be
produced at the same time. The DFB joint also has a re-melt temperature approaching that of
the lower melting base material, so service temperatures can be extended over most other
brazing processes.

Figure 6 schematically illustrates diffusion brazing or transient liquid-phase bonding.

Figure 6 Schematic illustration of the key steps in diffusion brazing or transient liquid phase
bonding to produce a homogeneous metallurgical bond at the end of the process.

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Other Special Brazing Methods

Several other methods of brazing are used for special applications. These include blanket
(resistance) brazing, exothermic brazing, laser brazing, electron beam brazing, ultrasonic
brazing, vapor-phase brazing, and step-brazing. Blanket (resistance) brazing simply uses a
resistance-heated blanket to transfer heat to the brazement by a combination of radiation and
conduction. The process is good for contoured parts and/or outdoor use.

Exothermic brazing obtains the heat for brazing from an exothermic chemical reaction,
usually between solid-state reactants consisting of a powdered metal and a powdered metal
oxide, with one of the better-known reactions being the aluminothermic reaction between
Fe3O4 and Al in thermit welding. More recently, the process has tended to focus on so-called
‘‘combustion synthesis’’ (CS) or ‘‘self-propagating high-temperature synthesis’’ (SHS)
reactions, which occur during the formation of oxides, carbides, silicides, aluminides, and
various other ceramics and intermetallic compounds. The process is particularly useful for
joining otherwise difficult-to-join combinations of refractory metals or alloys, intermetallics
(or long-range-ordered alloys), ceramics, and various carbonaceous materials (e.g., graphite).
Reactants are preplaced in the intended joint between joint elements, and the exothermic
reaction is caused to take place therein. The heat of reaction is normally so high that some
superficial melting of the substrates occurs along with the production of at least one liquid-
phase product. The laser brazing and electron beam brazing processes use beams of photons
or electrons, respectively, to locally heat a joint containing preplaced braze filler in some
form. The particular advantages of both processes are very rapid heating, minimal heating of
the body of the brazement, and precise dimensional control.

While the laser brazing process can be performed in inert atmosphere, the EB process must
be performed in vacuum to allow the beam of electrons to flow unimpeded by molecules in
the air.

Ultrasonic brazing (USB) really is ultrasonically assisted brazing by other, more conventional
methods (e.g., dip brazing). The ultrasonic vibration energy simply helps remove voids and
gas pores from the molten filler and improves fill, fill integrity, and wetting. Vapor-phase
brazing and step-brazing are highly specialized processes. In vapour-phase brazing, vapors of
metals are combined in the vapor state to form a low melting alloy that deposits on the
brazement and produces a bond by being drawn into the close-fitting joints by capillary
action. Copper and zinc vapors have been combined to produce brass brazing filler alloys.
Step-brazing is really a procedure, not a process. It is used for accomplishing multiple brazed
joints sequentially. By choosing braze fillers with progressively lower melting temperatures,
brazes can be made near previously made joints without causing unwanted re-melting.