Nickel Aluminides as a “Filler” for Joining Ceramics and Metals

Reactive sintering of liquid Al with solid Ni resulting in the formation of intermetallic compounds was used for joining parts made of heat-resistant steel and parts made of ZrO2 ceramic. The constituents of the binding layer (the ‘filler’) were introduced in the form of foils (e.g. in the Al/Ni/Al sequence) in-between the two parts to be joined. The heat-resistant steel joints (steel- /NiAl/-steel) were bonded in vacuum within the temperature range from 1023K to 1323K, at a pressure of 6MPa for 30 to 60min. The ceramic joints of the ZrO2-/NiAl/-ZrO2 type were produced in an argon atmosphere within the temperature range from 1373K to 1723K at a pressure of 6MPa for a time from 30 to 60min. The joints of both types produced under these conditions had a required structure and were suitable for exploitation at high temperatures in air. Based on the results obtained for these joints, we experimented successfully with joining zirconium ceramics with heatresistant steel by using the reactive sintering of Ni-Al intermetallic compounds.