Brazing with Ipsen's TITAN® H6 Vacuum Furnace
Brazing is a metal-joining process in which two or more materials are joined when a filler metal (with a melting point lower than those of the materials themselves) is drawn into the joint between them by capillary action.Brazing has many advantages over other metal-joining techniques, particularly welding. Since the base metals never melt, brazing allows much tighter control over tolerances and produces a cleaner connection, normally without the need for secondary finishing. Because components are heated uniformly, brazing consequently results in less thermal distortion than welding. Brazing also provides the ability to easily join dissimilar metals and non-metals and is ideally suited to cost-effective joining of complex and multi-part assemblies.
Vacuum brazing is carried out in the absence of air, using a specialized furnace, and delivers significant advantages: extremely clean, flux-free braze joints of high integrity and superior strength. Improved temperature uniformity when heating in a vacuum, and lower residual stresses due to slow heating and cooling cycle, results in significantly improved thermal and mechanical properties of the material. Other benefits of vacuum brazing include heat treating or age hardening of the work piece as part of the metal-joining process, all in a single furnace cycle. Like conventional brazing, vacuum brazing is easily adapted to mass production.
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In order to obtain high-quality brazed joints, parts must be closely fitted and the base metals must be clean and free of oxides, normally accomplished by either chemical or mechanical (abrasive) cleaning. In the case of mechanical cleaning, proper surface roughness must be maintained as the capillary action of the filler material occurs much more readily on a rough surface than a smooth surface.
Temperature and time are also important factors that contribute to the quality of brazed joints. As the temperature of the braze alloy is increased, the alloying and wetting action of the filler metal increases as well. In general, the brazing temperature selected must be above the melting point of the filler metal, though there are several other factors that influence the joint designer's temperature selection. Typically, the preferred process will have the lowest possible braze temperature to minimize heat effects on the assembly, keep filler metal/base metal interactions to a minimum and maximize the life of fixtures. Most production braze processes are optimized to minimize brazing time and the associated costs.
Ipsen’Äôs TITAN® H6 vacuum furnace is a pure-bred brazing machine, specifically designed for optimal brazing performance. With a reduced customer investment, as well as a work zone volume of 36" x 36" x 48" and incredible 6,000-pound gross load capacity, there is nothing comparable on the market today. The entire family of TITAN furnaces was engineered using an innovative flow-production process that uses premium components. Ipsen-quality workmanship provides long-lasting equipment and precise processing capabilities coupled with quick delivery, installation and start-up. Not only does the standardized design work anywhere in the world, in any language, customized options provide tailored solutions to meet customer needs.
Listed below is a sample of TITAN's technical features that focus on the rigorous needs of brazing:
- Super-charged pumping system easily handles extreme vapor loads of brazing
- Capable of meeting Nadcap and AMS 2750D/2750E applicable requirements
- Enhanced controls delivering high part-temperature uniformity
- Rugged CFC-lined hot zone, resistant to braze material run-off
The TITAN H6 can be used as a vacuum brazing furnace for many different processes including nickel joining, copper joining, ceramic to metal, radiators and oil coolers. Industries that often use this processing technology are Medical, Aerospace and Automotive along with numerous others.
