Influence of the Thickness of the Reaction Zone in Aluminum/Stainless Steel Brazed Joints on the Mechanical Properties

The study deals with the characterization of the relationship between the microstructure of the reaction zone and the mechanical properties in the brazed joints of aluminum alloy 3003 and stainless steel AISI 304 in order to determine the influence of the intermetallic layers on the tensile shear strength of the joints. The joints were produced by induction brazing using an AlSi10 filler in an argon atmosphere at a temperature of 600 °C. Due to the local heat input into the liquid brazing filler during a short brazing time, a thin reaction zone is formed in the brazed joints (~1 µm), which ensures good mechanical properties of the joints. In order to observe the growth kinetics of the reaction zone in the brazed joints and to investigate the influence of the thickness of the reaction zone on the mechanical properties of the brazed joints, the joints were aged at temperatures of 200 °C and 500 °C for 6, 48 and 120 h. The results have shown that the thickness of this layer increases to a maximum of 2 µm depending on the duration of the thermal aging at a temperature of 200 °C. The results of the tensile shear strength tests have shown that the brazed joints with this thin layer ensure a high strength. The thermal aging at a temperature of 500 °C influences the growth of the reaction zone in the brazed joints significantly. The total thickness of the reaction zone increases to a maximum of 12 µm during the thermal aging. The results of the tensile shear tests of these joints have shown that the thermal aging at a higher temperature leads to a decrease of the tensile shear strength of the brazed joints to 67% due to the growth of the existing intermetallic layer and the formation of a new intermetallic layer in the reaction zone.