PNNL

Abstract

Aluminum foils were used to braze ceramic plates directly in air. Since aluminum forms an inert oxide layer, aluminum air brazing can provide significant benefits in ceramic joining such as chemical tolerance in dual atmospheres. In using aluminum to air braze, the key factor is optimizing the brazing conditions in order to obtain good interface between braze and substrates by controling the kinetics of melting and oxidation of aluminum and sintering of oxide scale. In this study, joint strength was found to be largely dependent on brazing conditions such as temperature and hold time. Effects of these conditions on the mechanical properties and the microstructure of the Al-brazed ceramic joints will be discussed in this paper.