Angled Braze Joint Composite Repair for High-Gamma Prime Alloys
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Solution Overview
Problem
Metal alloys, particularly high-gamma prime alloys, are challenging to repair and maintain due to structural weakening under heat treatments like welding, and conventional composite components with normal braze joints lack sufficient shear strength.
Innovation Solution
The development of composite metal components with angled braze joints that transfer tensile stress to shear stress, utilizing a main body and coupon with angled interfaces, and a braze joint defined by specific dimensions and angles to enhance shear strength, along with additive manufacturing techniques for complex geometries.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If conventional normal braze joints are used to form composite components, then the manufacturing process is simple, but the shear strength at the joint is insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the geometric parameters of the braze joint interface from a conventional normal (perpendicular) configuration to an angled configuration. Specifically, the interface between the coupon and main body is formed at an angle between 10-45 degrees relative to the surface, which transforms the stress state at the joint and significantly increases shear strength while maintaining manufacturability
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a composite structure consisting of three distinct materials: the base metal alloy, the braze alloy filling the interface, and the coupon material. This composite approach allows optimization of each material's properties and their interfaces, with the angled geometry creating a mechanically interlocked composite joint that superiorly resists shear loads
2Ease of repair
If welding heat treatment is applied to repair metal alloys, then structural reinforcement is achieved, but the alloys become structurally compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the thermal parameter of the repair process by using lower temperature braze alloys (such as nickel-based or cobalt-based braze materials) instead of high-temperature welding processes. This temperature parameter change prevents the structural degradation that occurs in high-gamma prime alloys during welding, while still achieving strong mechanical bonds through the angled interface geometry
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a braze alloy as an intermediary material between the base metal and the coupon. This intermediate layer facilitates bonding at lower temperatures than direct welding, acting as a mediator that enables repair without subjecting the brittle high-gamma prime alloy to damaging welding heat cycles
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The angled braze joints in composite components provide greater shear strength than conventional components, making them stronger and more suitable for high-stress industrial applications, while additive manufacturing enables complex geometries and reduced material waste.
Implementation Method 1
The angled interface between the coupon and the main body is configured to transfer tensile stress applied at the interface to predominately shear stress
Implementation Method 2
Bonding material is applied between the surfaces of the plug and the aperture, before or after insertion of the plug into the aperture. The article is thereafter heated such that the bonding material joins the surface of the plug and the aperture
Data Source
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AI summary
Various aspects include a composite component (30, 230) (also known as a Shear Enabled Regionally Engineered Facet (SEREF)) and methods of forming such a component. In some cases, a method includes: forming a slot in a main body (50) of a metal alloy component (10, 210), the slot (90) extending at least partially through a wall (60) of the metal alloy component (10, 210), the forming of the slot (90) including forming an angled main body interface (100) in the wall (60) of the metal alloy component (10, 210); forming a coupon (20) for coupling with the slot (90) in the metal alloy component (10, 210), the coupon (20) having an angled coupon interface (110) complementing the angled main body interface (100); and brazing the coupon (20) to the main body (50) at the slot (90) to form a composite component (30, 230).