Thermo-mechanical behaviour of ceramic metal brazed assemblies

This study investigates the effects of residual stresses developed during brazing on the performance of brazed ceramic metal joints. The thermal expansion gradient between ceramic and metallic materials leads to the development of such stresses during the cooling phase of the brazing process, which consequently reduce the strength of these composite structures. Here, the objective is to compare the failure behaviour of various assemblies observed during experimental tests and obtained through numerical simulations. In order to get a representation consistent with the physical mechanisms involved, these simulations must account for the brazing phase giving rise to residual stresses before applying in use solicitations to brazed joints. This paper focuses on the tensile strength of ceramic metal joints, for which two brittle failure modes (within the ceramic or at the interface) are observed during the experimental tests.