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Effect of Cu interlayer with different thickness on microstructure and properties of Al2O3/Kovar joints brazed with Cu–Ti/Cu/BNi-2 composite filler

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Abstract

In this study, a Cu–Ti/Cu/BNi-2 composite filler was employed to braze Al2O3 ceramics and Kovar alloy, aiming to prevent excessive reaction between active Ti and Kovar alloy. The investigation focused on the effects of varying Cu interlayer thickness on microstructure and mechanical properties. The results show that the typical microstructure of the joint is Al2O3/Ti–O/Cu3Ti3O /Ti-rich + Cu(s, s)/Ni3Ti + TiB2/CrB + Ni(s, s)/Kovar alloy. Notably, when the thickness of the Cu layer was 100 μm, the joint strength significantly increased to 128 ± 7 MPa, which represented a remarkable 50.5% improvement compared to the Cu–Ti filler. This enhancement in joint strength can be attributed to the addition of Cu/BNi-2, effectively preventing direct contact between Ti and Kovar alloy, thereby inhibiting their reaction and reducing the formation of brittle Fe-Ti phases within the joint. At the same time, Cu foil also contributed to alleviating the residual stress of the joint. However, as the Cu foil thickness increased, the fracture of the Cu3Ti3O reaction layer worsened, resulting in weaker bonding with ceramics and a decrease in joint strength. The study also discussed the microstructure evolution of the Al2O3/Cu–Ti/Cu/BNi-2/Kovar joint. This study provided an idea for the application of Cu-based filler.

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Funding

This research was sponsored by the Natural Science Foundation of Hebei Province (Grant No: E2021202177).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Materials Science and Engineering, Hebei University of Technology, Tianjin, 300130, China

    Anhang Li, Weibing Guo, Haitao Xue & Cuixin Chen

  2. Hebei Universky Material Technology Co., Ltd, Baoding, 072550, China

    Tao Wang & Xiaoguang Chen

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  1. Anhang Li
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Contributions

AHL contributed to formal analysis, visualization, writing—original draft; TW contributed to supervision; XGC contributed to investigation; WBG contributed to project administration, writing—review &editing, methodology; HTX contributed to funding acquisition; CXC contributed to supervision.

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Correspondence to Xiaoguang Chen or Weibing Guo.

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Li, A., Wang, T., Chen, X. et al. Effect of Cu interlayer with different thickness on microstructure and properties of Al2O3/Kovar joints brazed with Cu–Ti/Cu/BNi-2 composite filler. J Mater Sci: Mater Electron 35, 660 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10854-024-12437-3

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