Metallurgical Interaction among BNi-9 and Waspaloy, FSX-414 or 304-Type Stainless Steel under TLP Cycle

Abstract

The metallurgical interaction of BNi-9 filler metal paste with Waspaloy, Ni-coated Waspaloy, FSX-414, and 304-SS is studied in a brazing treatment under an argon atmosphere with an isothermal hold for one hour at 1150 °C. The Waspaloy alloys were brazed under both solubilized and aging conditions. Before brazing, some Waspaloy samples were electrochemically coated with an Ni layer 35-40 μm thick. The microstructures of the FSX-414 and 304-SS alloys showed that the thickness of the isothermal solidification zones was approximately 50 μm, while this thickness was not well defined in the Waspaloy samples. The Ni-coated solubilized Waspaloy showed a wider diffusive zone, which was associated with an increase in the penetration extension of the liquid films. The analysis of grain orientation in all brazed zones of the Waspaloy samples showed aleatory characteristics. Plastic factors in the different brazed zones were also obtained by nanoindentation under 350 mN loads. It was observed that the plastic factor was low when the width of the diffusive zone increased. The plastic factor in the Ni-coated Waspaloy was the lowest, while the diffusive zone in this sample had the largest width. The BNi-9 wettability is better in FSX-414, and 304-SS than in Waspaloy. Ni coating in Waspaloy improves BNi-9 wettability.