Brazeability of a 3003 Alloy With Al-Si-Cu-Based Aluminum Filler Metals

Al-Si-Cu-based filler metals have been used successfully for brazing 6061 aluminum alloy as reported in the authors’ previous studies. For application in heat exchangers during manufacturing, the brazeability of 3003 aluminum alloy with these filler metals is herein further evaluated. Experimental results show that even at such a low temperature as 550 °C, the 3003 alloys can be brazed with the Al-Si-Cu fillers and display bonding strengths that are higher than 77 MPa as well. An optimized 3003 joint is attained in the brazements with the innovative Al-7Si-20Cu-2Sn-1Mg filler metal at 575 °C for 30 min, which reveals a bonding strength capping the 3003 Al matrix.