Interfacial microstructure and properties of YG11C/42CrMo joint brazed with BCu64MnNi filler metal

Brazing hard alloy to high strength steel, incomplete atomic diffusion and excessive brittle reaction product precipitation at the faying interface are usually suffered because of incomplete understanding the process of the initial interface disappearing and diffusion layer forming and evolving. In this paper, hard alloy YG11C (WC-11wt.%Co) and high strength steel 42CrMo were picked up as base metals and BCu64MnNi as filler metal to clarify the interfacial microstructure evolution. The process parameters of dwell time were set as 30 s, 60 s, 120 s, and 300 s and braze temperature were set as 950℃, 970℃, 990℃, 1 010℃, the effect of which on the evolution of interfacial microstructure, tensile strength, integrated with fracture morphology analysis, were conducted. The results showed that increasing brazing temperature from 950℃ to 970℃, no significant difference existed in the joint interface, whereas brazed at 990℃, the binder phase erosion occurred, i.e. the liquid filler metal etched into Co binder phase of WC-Co base metal, which caused WC particles debonding from the base metal surface and formed an micro-anisotropic zone.. Increase temperature to 1 010℃, severe binder erosion happened so as to micropores appear. Through the parameters optimization, the tensile strength can reach to the maximum 589 MPa at temperature of 970℃. The dwell time showed similar effect on tensile strength because longer dwell time also caused erosion and porosity owing to long-time diffusion and reaction.