Optimum Brazing Conditions for Joining Commercially Pure Titanium to 304L Stainless Steel using BAg-8 Silver Filler Metal

Joining of titanium alloys to other materials especially steels has attracted much attention in recent years due to the exceptional properties of titanium such as excellent corrosion resistance and mechanical properties and its increasing application in various industries. According to the Fe-Ti binary phase diagram, these two elements do not have complete solubility. This leads to difficulties during fusion welding of these two alloy. One of the best methods for joining dissimilar alloys is brazing. In this research, the metallurgical and mechanical properties of brazing lap joints of steel to commercially pure titanium using a commercial filler metal (BAg-8) made under different time and temperature conditions were investigated. The study of the microstructure interface shows the formation of a chemical layer close to the titanium side of the joint, while no chemical compounds were created on the steel side. A coarse structure is formed at the interface between the steel and silver solder alloy. The observed coarse grain structure is related to the grain growth along with recrystallization in the steel substrate at high temperatures. Analysis of the joints was carried out by optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and hardness measurements. The results show that with increasing temperature, as well as brazing time, the average shear strength decreases due to the increased thickness of the intermediate layer.