Low-temperature joining of silicon carbide via Al-air in situ reaction

Abstract In order to achieve pressureless joining of SiC materials at low temperature, an innovative method involving brazing-bonding and in situ oxidation was developed in this work. In contrast to traditional Al brazing bonding or Al2O3 liquid-phase joining, aluminum-air (Al-air) joining served the dual purpose of joining with metallic Al and subsequently converting to Al2O3 at a low processing temperature of 1000 °C. Complete conversion of Al to Al2O3 was evidenced after heat-treating at 1000 °C for 10 h, with a relatively high shear strength of 128.3 MPa. The work here demonstrated the process of Al-air joining was facile and potential for the low-temperature joining of SiC materials, negating the need for external pressure.