Soldering of Aluminum Matrix Composites Sicp/a356 and Kovar Alloy

Article history: Received 28.3.2013 Received in revised form 26.4.2013 Accepted 29.4.2013 Aluminum matrix composites containing 55% SiC particle reinforcing phase/SiC reinforcement phase particle and Kovar alloy 4J29 were chosen as the base metals. After nickel plating on the surface of SiCp/Al, two kinds of materials were soldered together by using Zn-Cd-Ag-Cu as the filler metal and ZnCl2 as the flux at the temperature of 420 °C in an argon atmosphere for 5 minutes. The interfacial microstructures and fracture surfaces were investigated with a scanning electron microscope (SEM). The result shows that the electroplating nickel on the surface of SiCp/Al can improve the weldability of fillers in the composites. There are transition layers not only between the filler and Kovar alloy, but also between the filler metal and nickel layer, which shows that the filler metal, the nickel layer, the composites and Kovar alloy can be joined by the diffusion mechanism. The fracture analysis shows that the fracture is mainly located at the side of composites near the electroplating nickel layer.