Asymmetric Diffusional Solidification during Transient Liquid Phase Bonding of Dissimilar Materials

A theoretical analysis of diffusional solidification during transient liquid phase (TLP) bonding of dissimilar materials was performed in conjunction with experimental verification. A fully implicit, two-dimensional, finite element numerical simulation model, without the inherent symmetry assumption, was developed and used for the theoretical calculations, and good correlations between the model predictions and experimental results were observed. The study showed that an asymmetric distribution of residual interlayer liquid during a dissimilar joining of polycrystal and single crystal alloys is attributable to a mismatch between their lattice diffusion coefficients or solute solubility, irrespective of enhanced intergranular diffusion as was assumed previously. Also, notwithstanding increased solute diffusivity with temperature, it was found that an increase in bonding temperature can result in the prolongation of processing time t _f that is required to prevent the formation of deleterious eutectic during bonding of dissimilar materials. The occurrence of this seemingly anomalous behavior, however, reduces when a material is coupled with another type that exhibits a higher solute solubility or better capability of accommodating diffusing melting point depressant solute from the liquid interlayer.