Diffusion bonding of advanced alloys

Advanced alloys are being developed for a variety of critical applications in the aerospace and nuclear industries and the joining together of dissimilar metals is also becoming increasingly important. However, for a joining process to be truly effective in the fabrication step of the component, it must be able to produce sound quality joints without compromising the mechanical properties of the metals being joined. In this paper the diffusion bonding process is discussed as a method for joining complex metals and examples are given and include aluminium metal matrix composites and light alloys such as Ti-6Al-4V and a magnesium alloy (AZ31). The paper highlights the importance of the correct choice of interlayer(s) and shows how the relationship between bonding parameters and changes in joint microstructure relate to property changes of the joint region.