Brazing Method with Metal Layer Diffusion Barrier
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for making rocket engine combustion chambers require costly large-size plating baths for forming diffusion barrier layers, which can lead to equipment and running costs, and may clog coolant channels due to plating material accumulation.
Innovation Solution
A brazing method that eliminates the need for plating by using laminated bodies with a metal layer on the brazing foil, allowing for easier production and reduced costs, where the metal layer serves as a diffusion barrier and is applied via electroplating, sputtering, or press-bonding, and can be made from different materials on both sides of the brazing foil.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If plating is used to form a diffusion barrier layer on the base member, then the diffusion barrier function is achieved, but large-size plating baths are required leading to increased equipment and running costs
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts the diffusion barrier function from the base member surface and transfers it to a separate metal layer that is coupled to the brazing foil. This allows the base member to remain unplated, eliminating the need for large plating baths while maintaining the necessary diffusion barrier functionality through the detached metal layer on the brazing foil side.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention introduces a metal layer as an intermediary element between the brazing foil and the base member. This metal layer serves as the diffusion barrier, mediating the interaction between the brazing materials and the base member without requiring direct plating of the base member itself, thus avoiding the need for large plating equipment.
2Reliability
If plating is used to form a diffusion barrier layer on the base member, then the diffusion barrier function is achieved, but plating material may accumulate and clog coolant channels
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts the diffusion barrier function from the base member surface and relocates it to the brazing foil side. By forming the metal layer on the brazing foil rather than the base member, the plating process is removed from the coolant channel area, eliminating the risk of plating material accumulation and channel blockage while preserving the diffusion barrier function where it is needed.
3Reliability
If the metal layer is formed on the brazing foil by electroplating or sputtering, then the diffusion barrier layer is created, but additional manufacturing steps are required
Solution Approach 1:
The invention inverts the conventional approach by forming the metal layer on the brazing foil side rather than on the base member surface. This reversal allows the use of electroplating or sputtering on the smaller brazing foil substrate, which is more manageable and can be done with smaller equipment, thereby reducing the inversion of manufacturing complexity despite adding a step.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention segments the diffusion barrier function from the base member and assigns it to the brazing foil assembly. This segmentation allows the metal layer to be formed separately on the brazing foil using controlled processes like electroplating or sputtering, making the manufacturing more manageable and enabling better control over the barrier layer formation independent of the base member size and shape.
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
This method reduces equipment and running costs by eliminating the need for large plating baths and prevents coolant channel blockage, while maintaining mechanical strength and ease of thickness control for the diffusion barrier layer.
Implementation Method 1
a metal layer serving as a diffusion barrier layer
Implementation Method 2
a step of brazing the first base member and the second base member using the brazing foil
Data Source
AI summary
According to this brazing method, a first base member having a non-plated surface, a metal layer for functioning as a diffusion barrier layer, a brazing foil, and a second base member having a surface are arranged in this order so that the non-plated surface of the first base member and the surface of the second base member are faced with each other. The first base member and the second base member are brazed by using the brazing foil. The cost of providing a diffusion barrier layer between the first base member and the brazing foil is thereby reduced.