Materials Science and Engineering A 535 (2012) 62–67

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Materials Science and Engineering A

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Processing, microstructure and mechanical properties of vacuum-brazed

Al2 O3 /Ti6Al4V joints
J. Cao a,b,∗ , Z.J. Zheng a , L.Z. Wu b , J.L. Qi a , Z.P. Wang a , J.C. Feng a
a
State Key Lab of Advanced Welding Production Technology, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150001, China
b
Center for Composite Materials and Structures, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150001, China

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: The vacuum brazing of alumina ceramic to Ti6Al4V alloy was performed using Ag–Cu eutectic filler
Received 13 April 2011 metal. The microstructure at the ceramic-metal interfaces and the mechanical properties of the brazed
Received in revised form 24 October 2011 joint were examined. The microstructure of the joint brazed at 825 ◦ C for 10 min consisted of ␣–␤ Ti,
Accepted 6 December 2011
Ti2Cu, TiCu, Ti3Cu4, Ag-based solid solution and Ti4 (Cu,Al)2 O phases starting from Ti6Al4V to alumina
Available online 19 December 2011
substrate. The brazing parameters had a strong influence on the microstructure and shear strength of the
joint. The brittle fracture mainly propagated in the alumina substrate. The highest shear strength was
Keywords:
obtained when the joint was brazed at 825 ◦ C for 10 min. When a Cu foil was sandwiched between two
Brazing
Alumina
Ag–Cu brazing foils, the microstructure of the joint changed greatly and the shear strength increased
Titanium correspondingly.
Microstructure © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Mechanical properties

1. Introduction when brazing of Al2 O3 ceramic to Ti6Al4V titanium using inactive

Alumina (Al2 O3 ) ceramic has been widely used due to its satis-
factory combination of mechanical strength with low thermal and
electrical conductivities [1,2]. However, most commercial applica-
tions require the joining of metallic part to the ceramic [3]. For
example, the joining of Al2 O3 to Ti6Al4V alloy was needed for
the application in vacuum ducts, energy converters, semiconductor
devices, missiles, rockets, and satellites [4,5].
Alumina can be joined to metal by mechanical method, diffu-
sion bonding [6] and brazing technique [7,8]. Among these joining
methods, vacuum brazing is well acknowledged as a suitable
method for Al2 O3 ceramic [9–12]. However, brazing of ceramics
presents difficulties because conventional filler metals do not eas-
ily wet alumina. In practice, the first approach for brazing requires
some surface metallization to improve the wetting ability of Al2 O3
ceramic. Such a process, however, presents technical and eco-
nomical disadvantage, which led to the development of direct
brazing technology [13]. Therefore, the second approach for braz-
ing involving addition of active element such as Ti or Zr in filler
metal is preferable. Many investigations on the interfacial reac-
tions were reported using Ag–Cu–Ti filler metal [14–17]. However,
active elements such as Ti reduce the fluidity and the production
of active filler metal is difficult [10]. This problem can be solved
∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +86 451 86418882; fax: +86 451 86418146.
E-mail address: cao jian@hit.edu.cn (J. Cao).
Ag–Cu eutectic filler metal. Although many experiments on braz-
ing of Al2 O3 were carried out, few systematical investigations using
Ag–Cu filler metal were reported. In addition, the large stress con-
centration tended to generate during the cooling process due to
the mismatch between the alumina and Ti6Al4V alloy. One pos-
sibility of compensating for the mismatch consisted of inserting
a soft Cu interlayer between the two materials, and the corre-
sponding microstructure evolution using a Cu interlayer needs to
be discussed.
The objective of the present work is to study the microstructure
of Al2 O3 /Ti6Al4V vacuum brazed joint using Ag–Cu filler metal. The
effect of brazing temperature and Cu interlayer on microstructure
evolution was investigated. To evaluate the mechanical proper-
ties of joint, both the shear strength and the fracture surface were
examined.
2. Experimental
The commercial polycrystalline Al2 O3 (purity > 99.9%, den-
sity = 3.78 × 103 kg/m3 ) and Ti6Al4V alloys were used in this study.
The alumina (>99.5% theoretical density) was produced by high
temperature sintering from powders containing less than 0.1%
impurities (0.009% CaO, 0.053% SiO2 , 0.007% MgO, 0.023% Fe2 O3 ).
The dimensions of Al2 O3 and Ti6Al4V specimens for metallographic
observation were both 5 mm × 5 mm × 5 mm. The sizes of Al2 O3
and Ti6Al4V specimens for shear test were 5 mm × 5 mm × 5 mm
and 30 mm × 5 mm × 5 mm, respectively. The schematic diagram

0921-5093/$ – see front matter © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.msea.2011.12.042
 J. Cao et al. / Materials Science and Engineering A 535 (2012) 62–67 63

Fig. 1. Schematic diagram of the experiment for (a) metallographic observation and
(b) Shear test.
Fig. 2. Microstructure of Al2 O3 /AgCu/Ti6Al4V joint brazed at 825 ◦ C for 10 min.

of the experiment for metallographic observation and shear test

is shown in Fig. 1. For the joining assembly, an Ag–Cu eutectic
brazed foil with the thickness of 50 ␮m was inserted between
Al2 O3 and Ti6Al4V substrates. All joined surfaces were polished
by SiC papers up to grit 1200 and ultrasonically cleaned by ace-
tone prior to brazing. For adding the Cu interlayer, the thickness
of Cu foil (purity > 99.9%) ranged from 10 to 120 ␮m and the
Ag–Cu/Cu/Ag–Cu assembly was used.
The brazing process was carried out in a high vacuum heating
apparatus and the vacuum pressure was kept at 5 × 10−4 Pa. The
joining assembly was heated at the rate of 20 ◦ C/min from room
temperature to 500 ◦ C, and 10 ◦ C/min from 500 ◦ C to the brazing
temperature, respectively. The brazing temperature ranged from
800 to 950 ◦ C and the holding time ranging from 5 min to 60 min
was employed. Then the assembly was cooled at the rate of 5 ◦ C/min
from brazing temperature to room temperature. A stainless steel
weight (500 g) was used to ensure proper contact of the assem-
bly parts during the brazing experiments. After brazing process,
the microstructure of the products was characterized employing
scanning electron microscopy (SEM, S-4700) with energy disper-
sive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS, TN-4700). For EDS analysis, 10 scans
were carried out for a given phase. Shear strength tests were per-
formed at a constant speed of 0.5 mm/min by a universal testing
machine (Instron 1186). Ten shear samples were examined for the
joints brazed at a certain parameter, as well as the average values
and the deviations of the shear strengths were obtained.
3. Results and discussion
3.1. Characterization of the interfacial microstructure
In an effort to join of Al2 O3 to Ti6Al4V, it is necessary for the
active Ti element to dissolve into molten AgCu filler metal. Fig. 2
shows the microstructure of the Al2 O3 /Ti6Al4V joint brazed at
825 ◦ C for 10 min. The joint was completely filled, without any
pores or defects. It was noted that a reaction layer formed at the
Al2 O3 /braze interface, which demonstrated that the activity of Ti
It can be deduced that the Ag–Cu eutectic structures will be resid-
ual when the low brazing temperature or holding time is applied,
as demonstrated in Ref. [18]. The reaction phases are marked by
Region A∼G and the corresponding quantitative analyses of com-
position are shown in Table 1.
At the Ti6Al4V/braze interface, the interdiffusion between Ti and
Cu resulted in the formation of the layered structures (Layer A, B, C
and D). The diffusion of Cu, which serves as a strong ␤-Ti stabilizing
element, into the Ti6Al4V substrate lowers the ␣→␤ phase trans-
formation temperature and ␣–␤ titanium structure forms due to
the decomposition of ␤-Ti during cooling [19]. The needle-like ␤-Ti
containing Cu was observed and the dark ␣-Ti distributed between
the ␤-Ti needles, as shown by Layer A in Fig. 2. According to the
composition analyses in Table 1 and the Ti–Cu binary phase dia-
gram [20], it was concluded that Layer B, C and D consisted of
Ti2 Cu, TiCu and Ti3 Cu4 respectively. The similar results of interfacial
products were reported when joining TC4 with Cu-rich interlayer
[18,19,21]. The base Ti6Al4V alloy acted as a source of Ti for the
braze and led to the formation of Ti–Cu intermetallics phases which
appeared as a series of parallel layers, as demonstrated in Ref. [22].
The formation of Ti2 Cu, TiCu and Ti3 Cu4 layers is in good agreement
with the stable compounds in the Ti–Cu binary phase diagram.
On the other hand, the microstructure at the Al2 O3 /braze inter-
face was relatively simple and only one reaction layer (Layer E,
thickness = 2.1 ␮m) was observed. The chemical composition of
Layer E corresponded to the Ti4 (Cu,Al)2 O compound first charac-
terized by Barbier [22]. The estimated free energy of the Cu2 Ti4 O
formation is −502.8 kJ/mol [23]. The highly negative value for free
energy of formation is indicative of the stability of the Ti4 (Cu,Al)2 O
compound. It was noted that the TiOx (x = 0.4–1) layer, which was
reported in previous study [15], was not detected adjacent to Al2 O3
substrate in the present study. When Ti6Al4V alloy was brazed to
alumina, Ti from the substrate was available for the reaction at the
Table 1
Composition analyses of the different elements of the joint.

dissolved was high enough to form the reaction product layer. Region Composition (at.%) Phase
The partial enthalpy of solution in molten Cu and Ag of Ti at infi-
Ti Cu Al Ag O
nite dilution is −10 kJ/mol and 39 kJ/mol, respectively [15]. Thus
it can be concluded that Cu has a stronger tendency to react with A 87.5 8.1 4.4 – – ␣–␤ Ti
B 66.5 30.9 2.6 – – Ti2 Cu
Ti compared with Ag. Large amounts of Cu aggregated in contact C 46.1 49.8 3.2 0.9 – TiCu
with Ti6Al4V substrate and thick Ti–Cu reaction layers formed. The D 42.7 52.6 2.3 2.4 – Ti3 Cu4
decrease of Cu content in the Ag–Cu filler metal led to the deviation E 55.2 17.8 11.3 0.9 14.8 Ti4 (Cu,Al)2 O
from the eutectic point. Therefore, the Ag-rich solid solution was F 43.8 51.7 1.8 2.7 – Ti3 Cu4
G 39.3 56.5 1.3 2.9 – Ti2 Cu3
kept in the joint and no Ag–Cu eutectic structures were observed.
64 J. Cao et al. / Materials Science and Engineering A 535 (2012) 62–67
Al2 O3 /braze interface. The activity of Ti at one end will be con-
strained to be very high [23]. It has been experimentally shown that
at high Ti concentration only Ti4 (Cu,Al)2 O layer was formed [22].
Kelkar et al. [23] also provided evidence of unstable TiO/Cu2 Ti4 O
interface without the presence of a third phase using activity dia-
grams for Ti–Cu–O system.
In the middle of the brazed seam, the light Ag-rich solid solu-
tion (Ag(s.s)) was observed as the matrix of the brazed seam. Some
dark bulks (Region F, G) were generated in the brazed seam and
the structures consisted of dark Ti3 Cu4 and light Ti2 Cu3 phases
according to EDS results in Table 1. Paulasto et al. [24] also provide
evidence of existence of Ti3 Cu4 and Ti2 Cu3 when the binary eutectic
AgCu alloy is annealed in a Ti ampoule at 900 ◦ C. Although the low
temperature was employed for the sample in the present study, the
Ti3 Cu4 and Ti2 Cu3 intermetallics could be formed according to the
Ag–Cu–Ti ternary phase diagram [25].
3.2. Effect of the brazing temperature on the microstructure
The formation of reaction products at the interfaces is governed
by processing parameters such as the brazing temperature and
holding time. The effect of brazing temperature on the microstruc-
ture of the joint held for 30 min is shown in Fig. 3. For the specimen
brazed at 800 ◦ C, the brazed joint was mainly composed of pri-
mary Ag-rich matrix, Ti–Cu intermetallics layers in the Ti6Al4V
side and Ti–Cu–Al–O reaction layer bordering the Al2 O3 substrate.
In addition, both Ti2 Cu and TiCu reaction layers were observed at
the interface between the filler metal and Ti6Al4V substrate. With
the increase of the brazing temperature, the growth of interfacial
Ti–Cu intermetallics was greatly increased as shown in Fig. 3(b).
When the brazing temperature reached 950 ◦ C, the Ti would be
more active at high temperature and preferentially reacted with
Fig. 3. Effect of brazing temperature on the microstructure of Al2 O3 /AgCu/Ti6Al4V joint (holding for 30 min). (a) 800 ◦ C, (b) 850 ◦ C and (c) 950 ◦ C.
Cu in the filler alloy to form large amounts of Ti–Cu intermetallics,
which led to the formation of dominant Ti–Cu intermetallics in the
brazed joint (as shown in Fig. 3(c)). Only small amounts of residual
Ag(s.s) particles were observed between Ti–Cu intermetallics den-
drites. During the growth of the Ti–Cu intermetallics, the Ag(s.s)
was pushed to the fillet and even overflowed the joint under high
brazing temperature, which was similar with the investigation by
Wu et al. [26]. The overflow of the Ag(s.s) resulted from the exis-
tence of the miscibility gap in the Ag–Cu–Ti ternary phase diagram,
as demonstrated in Ref. [27]. The reaction products from Ti6Al4V to
Al2 O3 were ␣–␤ titanium structure, Ti2 Cu, TiCu and Ti4 (Cu,Al)2 O,
respectively. This interfacial structure is consistent with the pre-
vious experimental results reported in Refs. [12,18]. The similar
effect of the holding time on the microstructure was found. The
microstructure of Al2 O3 /AgCu/Ti6Al4V joint with long holding time
(brazed at 825 ◦ C) is shown in Fig. 4. Compared with microstructure
in Fig. 2, it was noted that the thickness of Ti–Cu interfacial layers
increased accordingly with the increase of holding time.
3.3. Mechanical properties of the Al2 O3 /Ti6Al4V joint
In order to evaluate the mechanical properties, the shear
strength of the joint was examined. The effect of brazing tem-
perature on the shear strength of Al2 O3 /AgCu/Ti6Al4V joint held
for 10 min is shown in Fig. 5(a). The shear strength of the joint
increased as the joining temperature was raised from 800 to 825 ◦ C.
The joint produced at 825 ◦ C presents the highest shear strength
(118.4 ± 5.4 MPa). When the brazing temperature exceeded 825 ◦ C,
the shear strength of the joint decreased with the increase of the
brazing temperature. When the brazing temperature was 800 ◦ C,
the filler metal could melted but the interfacial reactions were
insufficient, which led to the lower shear strength. With the
 J. Cao et al. / Materials Science and Engineering A 535 (2012) 62–67
Fig. 4. Microstructure of Al2 O3 /AgCu/Ti6Al4V joint brazed at 825 ◦ C for 60 min.
increase of the brazing temperature, the interfacial reaction was
enhanced and the shear strength increased accordingly. But if the
brazing temperature was too high (such as 900 ◦ C), the soften
Ag(s.s) decreased and brittle Ti–Cu intermetallics became dominant
in the joint, which would degrade the joint. Thus, too high brazing
temperature was not good to the joining strength, as demonstrated
in Ref. [28]. Based on this, the maximal shear strength was obtained
when the brazing temperature was 825 ◦ C. The effect of holding
time on the shear strength of the joint brazed at 825 ◦ C is shown
in Fig. 5(b). It was noted that the effect of holding time was similar
with that of brazing temperature. The highest shear strength was
obtained when the holding time was 10 min.
The relationship between the microstructural evolution and the
mechanical behavior is very important to understand the join-
ing mechanism. In the present study, the shear strength of the
Al2 O3 /AgCu/Ti6Al4V joint was mainly determined by two aspects:
(1) the interfacial joining, especially between the filler metal and
the Al2 O3 substrate. When low brazing temperature was employed,
the interfacial joining was insufficient and the joining strength
was unsatisfactory. Therefore, the higher brazing temperature was
helpful to increase the solution of Ti element from Ti6Al4V sub-
strate and enhance the interfacial joining. (2) The release of the
residual stress by the Ag-rich phase. The coefficients of ther-
mal expansion (CTE) of these two substrates to be joined are
quite different. Due to these CTE differences, substantial stresses
Fig. 5. Effect of brazing parameters on the shear strength of Al2 O3 /Ti6Al4V joint. (a) brazing temperature and (b) holding time.
65
Fig. 6. Fracture surface of Al2 O3 /Ti6Al4V joint (brazed at 825 ◦ C for 10 min) after
shear test.
generated on the ceramic near the brazed joints during cooling
process. Whereas, residual Ag-rich phase between the interfaces
could absorb stresses, which was beneficial for improving the join-
ing strength [29]. The higher brazing temperature resulted in the
thicker Ti–Cu intermetallics and thinner residual Ag-rich phase in
the joint, which degraded the joining properties. Combined these
two aspects, there existed the optimal value for the brazing tem-
perature to achieve the highest joining strength.
The analysis of fracture surface obtained after shear tests
showed that all Al2 O3 /Ti6Al4V joints broke in the Al2 O3 substrate,
as shown in Fig. 6 (brazed at 825 ◦ C for 10 min). The fracture initi-
ated at the braze/alumina/vacuum triple line and propagated in the
ceramic, corresponding to a geometrical singularity where residual
stresses concentrated during cooling from the brazing temperature.
The major contributor to the fracture is the residual thermal
stresses caused by the CTE mismatch of the joined materials.
The CTE(␣) of Al2 O3 , Ag–Cu brazes and Ti6Al4V substrate are
7.0–7.4 × 10−6 /◦ C, 18.5 × 10−6 /◦ C and 9.0 × 10−6 /◦ C, respectively
[11,12]. In addition, the Ti4 (Cu,Al)2 O layer had a strong influence on
the crack predominantly occurred within the Al2 O3 substrate. How-
ever, little is known about the physical properties of Ti4 (Cu,Al)2 O
phases. The CTE of Ti3 (Cu,Al)3 O reaction layer was 15.1 × 10−6 /◦ C
[30]. Both Ti4 (Cu,Al)2 O and Ti3 (Cu,Al)3 O belonged to the M6X
phase, which indicated that the properties of Ti4 (Cu,Al)2 O was
66 J. Cao et al. / Materials Science and Engineering A 535 (2012) 62–67
Fig. 7. Effect of thickness of Cu interlayer on the microstructure of Al2 O3 /Ti6Al4V brazed joint. (a) 10 ␮m, (b) 40 ␮m and (c) 120 ␮m.
similar with Ti3 (Cu,Al)3 O phase. The M6X phase is a dilute ceramic
compound that is metal-rich compared to conventional ceramics.
Therefore, the Ti4 (Cu,Al)2 O reaction layer may provide a more grad-
ual transition in physical properties and help to minimize the effect
of local strains derived from CTE mismatch. In addition, the ductile
Ag–Cu filler metal was also helpful to mitigate the expansion mis-
match and relax the residual stresses. Bartletta et al. [31] reported
that the positive misfit systems (˛alloy > ˛Al2 O3 ) crack predomi-
nantly within the Al2 O3 substrate. For the system in the present
study, the ˛Ag–Cu , ˛Ti6Al4V and ˛Ti4 (Cu,Al)2 O are all larger than ˛Al2 O3 ,
which determined that the crack would occur preferentially in the
Al2 O3 substrate, as shown in Fig. 6.
In order to release the thermal stress, a Cu foil was inserted
between two Ag–Cu brazed foils and the sample assembly was
Al2 O3 /Ag–Cu/Cu/Ag–Cu/Ti6Al4V. The microstructure of the brazed
joint using Cu interlayer with different thickness is shown in Fig. 7.
All joints with Cu interlayer were brazed at 825 ◦ C for 10 min. It
was noted that the interfacial products using Cu interlayer did not
changed obviously. When the thickness of the Cu interlayer was
10 ␮m, large amounts of Ag–Cu eutectic structures appeared and
no residual Cu interlayer was found. When the thickness of Cu inter-
layer increased to 40 ␮m, the discontinuous Cu bulks were residual
in local part and the amounts of Cu-rich solid solution increased
greatly. The irregular edge of Cu bulks derived from the inten-
sive dissolution was generated in the joint, as shown in Fig. 7(b).
The obvious Ag–Cu eutectic structures were observed due to the
increase of Cu content in the filler metal. This result agrees well
with the above analysis in Fig. 2. When the Cu foil with the thick-
ness of 120 ␮m was employed, the microstructure is presented in
Fig. 7(c). The thick Cu interlayer with irregular edge was residual in
the joint. As seen in Fig. 7(c), there are the liquid channels between
the copper bulks so Ti can diffuse to alumina through the channels.
The shear strength of the Al2 O3 /Ti6Al4V joint using a Cu inter-
layer was tested to evaluate the effect of interlayer. When the 10, 40
and 120 ␮m Cu interlayer foils were employed, the shear strengths
were 128.7, 139.4 and 157.4 MPa, respectively. The results showed
that the shear strengths of the joints using Cu interlayer were totally
higher than that using direct brazing, which indicated that the
addition of Cu interlayer was beneficial for improving the joining
properties. Similar with the joint without using Cu interlayer, the
brittle fracture also initiated at the braze/alumina/vacuum triple
line which corresponded to a geometrical singularity where resid-
ual stress concentrated during cooling process, as demonstrated in
Ref. [11]. When the Cu interlayer was employed, the Ag–Cu eutec-
tic structure and residual Cu phase appeared as mentioned above.
The Ag–Cu eutectic structure was enhanced with the increase of
the Cu interlayer thickness. Compared with the brittle Ti–Cu inter-
metallics, both the Ag–Cu eutectic structure and residual Cu phase
presented better ductile characteristics and were beneficial for
releasing the residual stresses. Mandal et al. [29] also reported that
the residual Ag–Cu between the interfaces absorbed stresses and
improved the joining quality. Therefore, it was concluded that the
better joint properties were derived from the soften Ag–Cu eutectic
and residual Cu structure.
4. Conclusions
Al2 O3 ceramic has been successfully brazed to Ti6Al4V alloy
using AgCu eutectic filler metal. The braze/Ti6Al4V interface of
the joint brazed at 825 ◦ C for 10 min consisted of ␣–␤ Ti, Ti2 Cu,
TiCu, Ti3 Cu4 phases, as well as the presence of Ti4 (Cu,Al)2 O phase
was confirmed at the braze/Al2 O3 interface. With the increase of
the brazing temperature, the thickness of Ti–Cu interfacial layers
increased and Ti–Cu intermetallics dominated in the joint brazed
 J. Cao et al. / Materials Science and Engineering A 535 (2012) 62–67 67

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