Diffusion Enhancement during Electrically Assisted Brazing of Ferritic Stainless Steel Alloys

The electrically assisted brazing of a ferritic stainless steel with nickel-based filler metal is experimentally investigated. During electrically assisted brazing of a lap joint, the temperature of the joint is first rapidly increased to a brazing temperature and held nearly constant for a specific period using a pulsed electric current. Microstructural analysis results strongly suggest that the electric current during electrically assisted brazing enhances diffusion between the filler metal and the ferritic stainless steel, thus inducing significantly thicker diffusion zones compared with induction brazing. The mechanical test results show that the strength of the electrically assisted brazing joint is comparable to or even superior to those of the joint fabricated by induction brazing, while the process time of the electrically assisted brazing is significantly shorter than that of induction brazing.