Aluminum Brazing (CAB & Vacuum)
Aluminum brazing involves joining components with a brazing alloy (cladding), where its melting point is appreciably lower than the parent material (base alloy). The cladding is typically placed adjacent to or in-between the components to be joined. The assembly is then heated to a temperature window of 580-615°C (1076-1139°F), where the cladding material melts and the parent material does not. The process can be performed either in a controlled atmosphere furnace known as a CAB, or in a vacuum furnace.
The challenge is to achieve a narrow brazing window of 10-20°C (50-68°F) for a specific time period to get the perfect braze. Under or over brazing would result in a defective product that would need to be scrapped or reworked. During the brazing operation, the temperature of the product batches has to be monitored to achieve optimum product quality and traceability. The setting up of new processes (for new products) will involve furnace fine-tuning and can require recipe changes (changes in zone temperatures and line speeds).
- Maintain product quality and furnace performance by regular profiling of batches or shifts
- Set up new product recipes before a production start and predict thermal profiles after fine-tuning furnace settings
- Identify potential cold or hotspots on a product load in vacuum furnaces and across furnace belts in continuous CAB furnaces
- Solve production problems before they occur, through regular profiling when conditions are ideal
Thermal Profiling Systems
Literature and other resources
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