A novel approach to diffusion bonding of copper to stainless steel

Abstract

In this study, austenitic stainless steel and copper materials were bonded through the diffusion welding method, one of the solid-state welding processes. The welding process was carried out at 875°C temperature for 30 minutes under 3 MPa pressure. Two different methods were employed in the welding process. In the first method, the conventional diffusion welding procedure was followed. In the second one, an external electrical current was applied to the parts to be joined with the help of a system that was added to the conventional system. By doing so, the aim was to determine the diffusion amount and length for the specimens obtained with and without current. The weld quality of the diffusion welded specimens was examined using the tensile and hardness test. In addition, microstructural analyses were done using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive spectrometry (EDS). The highest hardness value was obtained in regions next to the interface and it was decreased gradually as the distance from the interface increased on both sides of the interface. The results indicated that the highest interface strength was obtained for the specimens joined when the external current was applied. According to the EDS and EDS line element analyses results, it can be seen that the specimens joined by applying the external current had a higher amount of diffusion and length than the specimens joined by the conventional technique.