Development of High-Temperature and Low-Oxygen Atmosphere Controlled Furnace and Its Application to Metal Jointing Technology

Metal joining by brazing or by diffusion bonding is mostly practiced at temperatures up to around 1573.K. At such temperatures, atmosphere furnaces or vacuum furnaces are required to avoid metal oxidation while heating. The drawbacks of atmosphere furnaces are their use of explosive gasses including hydrogen and that metal conveyance belts are not usable above 1 423 K. In this study, a non-oxidizing continuous furnace, which uses only inert gas atmospheres and is combined with a carbon/carbon composite conveyance belt that can run up to 2 873 K, was developed and applied to metal joining technology. The principle and features of the furnace, process of furnace development, and applications of the furnace to the brazing and diffusion bonding of stainless steel are reported with some experimental data.