Brazing and Soldering

Brazing and Soldering
Video Lecture
Comparing Brazing and Soldering
● Both use heat, filler metal and usually flux.
● Primary difference is melting temperature of filler metal.
○ Brazing filler metals melt above 840°F (liquidus).
● Filler metal in both cases melts below melting
temperature of base metal.
● Sometimes (especially with brazing) the difference in
melting temperatures is small (small process window).
● Process window for soldering usually dictated by
electronic or other heat-sensitive components
Comparing Brazing and Soldering
● Both rely on capillary action to create a
strong joint.
○ Joint clearance is critical
○ Typical range is .001 to .005 for brazing, .003 to .006
for soldering (inches)
○ Joint design may need to compensate for thermal
expansion
Flux
Prevents, dissolves and/or facilitates
removal of oxides and other surface
contaminants. They also facilitate wetting
and encourage intermetallic bonds to form.
Fluxes are not designed to be cleaners.

Joint should be clean before brazing
begins.
Brazing Fluxes
Six Categories
● Type 1, 2, 3A, 3B, 4, 5
● Selection is based on base metals.
● Contain combinations of fluorides, chlorides,
borates (including borax) and wetting agents
● Each type has a different working temperature
● Available as liquid, paste, powder. Sometimes
compounded with filler metal. Braze rod with
flux covering or core is available.
Brazing Filler Metals
Filler metals are available as
wire
foil
paste
powder
preforms
braze sheet
Brazing - Advantages
● The joining of dissimilar metals, and materials
● Very thin material can be brazed which would otherwise be damaged
by welding
● Inaccessible joints can more easily be brazed
● Brazing is easily and more economically automated than many welding
processes
● Leak-tight joints are easily attained
● Multiple joints can be made simultaneously
● Less-skilled operators are required
● Braze joints are ductile
● Braze process is readily automated
Brazable Materials
Most ferrous and non-ferrous metals.
Many carbides and cermets
Brazing Limitations
● Size limitation, Extremely large parts may be
more easily welded.
● Parts must be made to close tolerances to
ensure proper joint clearance.
● "Process window" can be small.
Temperatures must be controlled accurately
to avoid melting base metal.
Torch Brazing
Torch Brazing
Uses an oxyfuel gas on fluxed joints. Can be manual or
automated.
Automated Torch Brazing
Dip Brazing
Uses a molten
chemical or metal
bath.
Assembled parts are
typically dipped in a
heated chemical bath
which serve as both
fluxing agent and
heat source to melt
pre-applied filler
material.
Induction Brazing
Furnace Brazing
● Batch furnace brazing
● Continuous furnace brazing
Can be controlled atmosphere/vacuum
Brazing vs. Braze Welding
Brazing must use capillary action to draw the
molten filler metal into the joint.
Braze welding is identical in terms of definition

except the filler metal is not drawn into the joint
with capillary action.
Soldering
Soldering is one of the oldest methods of
joining metals. Because filler metals melt at low
temperatures there is minimum part distortion
and heat damage to sensitive parts.
Note: “soft solder,” “hard solder,” & “silver

solder” are slang terms that are used generally
to distinguish solder from brazing.
Solderable Materials
Depends on wetting
Many combinations of metal to metal or ceramic to

metal may be joined.
Soldering is used extensively in the electronics

industry where it’s limited mechanical strength is
not a major factor.
Soldering Fluxes
Organic
Contain carbon, corrosive at elevated
temperature, non corrosive at room temp.
Water soluble
Inorganic
Very Corrosive, provide better cleaning, do not
char or burn easily. Parts must be cleaned after
brazing. A rosin flux
Rosin Flux
Non Corrosive, used for electronics least
effective cleaning ability
Soldering Filler Metals
Filler materials include combinations of tin-lead,
tin-silver-lead, tin-zinc, silver-copper-zinc and
zinc-aluminum alloys.
As with brazing filler metals, solders are

supplied as wires, foil, sheets, pastes,
preforms, or as bars and ingots.
Iron soldering is the oldest and simplest soldering method
Iron Soldering and is still widely used today. Soldering irons have copper
tips which easily store and transfer heat to the joint
Through-Hole Devices
Printed Circuit Board
Wave Soldering
Wave soldering is a specific method used in the fabrication of
electronic components and printed circuit boards (PCB). In
this method, continuously circulating fountains or waves of
solder are lifted into contact with the joints.
Surface Mounted Devices
SMT Reflow Soldering
Reflow Soldering
Usually used with SMT (to mount SMD's)
Such as ball grid array (BGD) components.
Done by Reflow oven or Infrared Lamps (or
even heat guns).
Start at 8:30
SMT Defects
Laser Soldering
Torch Soldering ("Sweating")
Used for pipe soldering (plumbing applications)
For more
information see:
Copper Tube Hand
book
Soldering Sheet Metal
Lap joint, lock seam joint, using soldering
coppers
See KiCad Tutorial Series
KiCad
Allpcb
See also: Getting to Blinky 4.0

Brazing and Soldering

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Brazing and Soldering

Uploaded by

Document Information

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Brazing and Soldering

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Brazing and Soldering

Fluxes are not designed to be cleaners.

Braze welding is identical in terms of definition

Note: “soft solder,” “hard solder,” & “silver

Many combinations of metal to metal or ceramic to

Soldering is used extensively in the electronics

As with brazing filler metals, solders are

See also: Getting to Blinky 4.0

You might also like