Effects of thermal cycling and thermal aging on the hermeticity and strength of silver–copper oxide air-brazed seals

Abstract

Thermal cycle and exposure tests were conducted on ceramic-to-metal joints prepared by a new sealing technique. Known as reactive air brazing, this joining method is currently being considered for use in sealing various high-temperature solid-state electrochemical devices, including planar solid oxide fuel cells (pSOFC). In order to simulate a typical pSOFC application, test specimens were prepared by joining ceramic anode/electrolyte bilayers to metal washers, of the same composition as the common frame materials employed in pSOFC stacks, using a filler metal composed of 4 mol% CuO in silver. The brazed samples were exposure tested at 750 °C for 200, 400, and 800 h in both simulated fuel and air environments and thermally cycled at rapid rate (75 °C min −1) between room temperature and 750 °C for as many as 50 cycles. Subsequent joint strength testing and microstructural analysis indicated that the samples exposure tested in air displayed little degradation with respect to strength, hermeticity, or microstructure out to 800 h of exposure. Those tested in fuel showed no change in rupture strength or loss in hermeticity after 800 h of high-temperature exposure, but did undergo microstructural change due to the dissolution of hydrogen into the silver-based braze material. Air-brazed specimens subjected to rapid thermal cycling exhibited no loss in joint strength or hermeticity, but displayed initial signs of seal delamination along the braze–electrolyte interface after 50 cycles.