What is Brazing?

In the age of discrete manufacturing and Industry 4.0, OEMs are working hard to shorten the time a piece of equipment spends on the production line while still retaining the high quality of the product. Brazing is one of the procedures OEMs use to fulfil their demand for speed and accuracy. Brazing is a technique that uses a filler material, known as a brazing alloy, to join two or more dis-similar metal parts.

The Brazing Process

Brazing, which is considered an extremely specialised and artistic manner of joining two metals components, usually is a 5-step process:

Step 1: Surface Preparation

The surfaces to be brazed are properly cleaned to remove any dirt, oxides, or impurities. This ensures the brazing alloy and base metals are properly wetted and bonded.

Step 2: Flux Application

Before brazing, a chemical compound known as a flux is applied to the joint region to avoid oxide formation, promote the flow of molten alloy, and improve wetting between the alloy and the base metals.

Step 3: Assembly

The parts to be brazed are properly aligned and held in place, either by fixturing or using mechanical means such as clamps or jigs.