Abstract
The investigation of novel, high-strength joining techniques for boron carbide ceramics and titanium alloys was posited to significantly improve the ballistic resistance of advanced ceramic–metal composite armor systems. Previous research pertaining to the brazing of ceramics and metals utilizing Ag–Cu–Ti filler alloys was conducted. Utilizing the Ag–Cu–Ti brazing system as the primary material facilitated the vacuum brazing process between B4C ceramics and TC4 titanium alloy. To alleviate the residual thermal stress within the B4C/TC4 joint, materials with a low thermal expansion coefficient, specifically tungsten (W), along with refractory metal foils such as Mo foil and Nb foil, were incorporated. A robust connection between B4C and TC4 was successfully established by implementing a composite brazing system comprising Mo foil, AgCuTi–W, AgCu foil, and Nb foil. The inclusion of 5 wt.% W content refined the intermediate layer, resulting in a denser organization. Upon the addition of 5 wt.% W, the shear strength attained its peak value of approximately 75 MPa, signifying an 87.5 % surge in comparison to the condition without the additive. Optimizing the mechanical performance of the B4C/TC4 joint was possible by prudently integrating suitable quantities of low expansion coefficient materials alongside intermediate brazing layers. Significantly, the combination system comprising nickel-plated B4C + Mo foil + AgCuTi-5 wt.% W + AgCu foil + Nb foil + TC4 displayed the utmost shear strength, approximately 101 MPa.
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Research ethics: Not applicable.
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Informed consent: Not applicable.
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Author contributions: All authors have accepted responsibility for the entire content of this manuscript and approved its submission. Zhaoran Chen: Conceptualization, Methodology, Software, Investigation, Data curation, Writing – original draft. Xuejian Liu: Supervision, Writing – review & editing. Zhaoquan Zhang: Supervision, Writing – review & editing.
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Use of Large Language Models, AI and Machine Learning Tools: None declared.
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Conflict of interest: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
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Research funding: The current work was supported by the Open Project of State Key Laboratory of Superhard Materials, Jilin University (No. 1G4231379460) and National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 12505317).
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Data availability: Not applicable.
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