Diffusion behavior at void tip and its contributions to void shrinkage during solid-state bonding

Solid-state diffusion bonding is an advanced joining technique, which has been widely used to join similar or dissimilar materials. Generally, it is easy to observe the diffusion behavior during dissimilar bonding, but for similar bonding the diffusion behavior has yet been observed via experiments. In this study, the diffusion behavior at void tip was firstly observed during similar bonding of stainless steel. Scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive spectroscopy was used to examine the interface characteristic and diffusion behavior. The results showed that a diffusion region was discovered at void tip. Element concentrations of diffusion region were more than those of void region, but less than those of bonded region. This behavior indicated that the diffusion was ongoing at void tip, but the perfect bond has yet formed. The diffusion region was attributed to the interface diffusion from adjacent region to void tip due to the stress gradient along bonding interface. The mass accumulation at void tip transformed the sharp void tip into smooth one at the beginning of void shrinkage, and then resulted in shorter voids.