Low-melting-point titanium-base brazing alloys—part 2: Characteristics of brazing Ti-21Ni-14Cu on Ti-6Al-4v substrate

Abstract

Filler metal of a low-melting-point (917 °C) Ti-21Ni-14Cu was brazed onto the substrate of Ti-6Al-4V alloy at 960 °C for 2,4, and 8 h to investigate the microstructural evolution and electrochemical characteristics of the brazed metal as a function of the period of brazing time. Optical microscopy, scanning and transmission electron microscopy, and x-ray diffractometry were used to characterize the microstructure and phase of the brazed metal; also, the potentiostat was used for corrosion study. Experimental results indicate that diffusion of copper and nickel from the filler metal into the equiaxed a plus intergranular β structure of Ti-6Al-4V substrate causes the lamellar Widmanstätten structure to form. The intermetallic Ti₂Ni phase existing in the prior filler metal diminishes, while the Ti₂Cu phase can be identified for the metal brazed at 960 °C for 2 h, but the latter phase decreases with time. Advantage might be taken from the evidence of faster diffusion of nickel than copper along the β phase to the substrate. In deaerated Hank’s solution, corrosion potential, corrosion current density, and critical potential for active-to-passive transition decrease while the passivation range broadens with the period of brazing time. However, all the brazed metals, immersed for different periods in oxygen-saturated Hank’s solution, show similar corrosion behavior, irrespective of the brazing time.