Develop a novel high-strength vacuum brazing technique for γ-TiAl intermetallic

Abstract

Limited strength and ductile joints for bonding γ-TiAl intermetallics are one of the main concerns on γ-TiAl applications in the aerospace industry. In this study, a new ductile brazing filler with TiZrCuNi system was developed by an established model for calculating the electrons distribution of the unit cell for the filler. Three kinds of fillers with fixed amount of Cu and Ni as 25 wt.%, but different Zr level (25, 18, 10 wt.%) were designed. It was found that the filler diffusion was affected by the filler composition, which was insufficient with high Zr content up to 37.5 wt.%. And the defects such as the voids and the cracks were observed with medium Zr level as 25 wt.% and brazing temperature as 1000 °C. The sound joints by Zr as 18 wt.% and 10 wt.% filler at 950 °C and 980 °C respectively were achieved with tensile strength as 520 MPa–570 MPa at room temperature. This tensile strength was remained as 495 MPa in average at 600 °C. The strong joints were attributed to the fine, randomly oriented Ti3Al grains and evenly distributed elements at the interfaces.