Transient liquid phase diffusion bonding under a temperature gradient: Modelling of the interface morphology

Imposing a temperature gradient when transient liquid phase (TLP) diffusion bonding results in reliable joints with shear strengths as high as those o f the parent material (e.g. aluminium-based alloys and composites). The key feature of this new method relies on the formation of non-planar interface s as a consequence of morphological instability at the solid/liquid interfa ce during solidification of the liquid layer (normally with a eutectic comp osition) at the bonding temperature. A model is proposed in this paper whic h is capable of predicting interface morphology and the bonding conditions which result in the formation of non-planar bond lines when using this new bonding method. The results of model provide an insight to the nature of th e solidification process. The proposed model was verified experimentally wh en bonding pure aluminium and also an aluminium alloy (6082) using copper i nterlayers. (C) 2001 Acta Materialia Inc. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd . All rights reserved.