Furnace brazing

Furnace brazing is a semi-automated process by which metal components are joined using a dissimilar lower melting material. Furnace brazing allows design and manufacturing engineers to join simple or complex designs for one joint or several hundred joints.

One of the most common forms of furnace brazing is accomplished in a vacuum furnace and referred to as Vacuum Brazing. Parts to be joined are normally cleaned and fixtured, with brazing alloy applied to the surfaces to be joined, then placed into the furnace. The entire assembly is brought to brazing temperature, after the furnace has been evacuated of air, to eliminate any oxidation or contamination occurring as the braze alloy liquefies and flows throughout the brazed joints.

  • Brazing provides design and manufacturing engineers an opportunity to join simple as well as complex designs with one joint or several hundred joints.
  • Very complex assemblies commonly use furnace brazing rather than welding because of the number of joints and complexity of the part.

Applications include:

  1. Aerospace parts – eg. engine seals
  2. Ground turbine components
  3. Commercial parts – eg. lawn motor clutch
  4. Automotive parts
  5. Space applications
  6. Electronic devices

Furnace brazing can be applied on a multitude of materials such as aluminium, titanium, nickel based alloys, stainless steels and alloy steels. Other non-ferrous materials such as copper alloys can be brazed.

The materials being joined dictate the type of atmosphere in which the assembly is heated to join its components. In addition to vacuum, protective or reactive atmospheres include hydrogen, nitrogen, a blend of hydrogen and other inert gases, exothermic and endothermic gas, as well as argon, and helium.

Furnace brazing is the process by which metal components are joined using a dissimilar lower melting material.

Furnace brazing is accomplished using a variety of techniques. They include different furnace designs, which include batch as well as continuous furnaces.

There are many types of furnace brazing, including:

  • Active metal brazing
  • Aluminium vacuum brazing
  • Brazing under controlled atmosphere
  • Honeycomb brazing
  • Continuous/mesh belt brazing
  • Reducing atmosphere brazing
  • Repair/restorative brazing
  • Vacuum brazing

The service is used to manufacture assemblies with one joint or several hundred joints, joined using a dissimilar lower melting material.

Related services

Induction brazing HIP brazing Electron beam welding