Determining physical-chemical patterns during the formation of brazed joints between tungsten and carbon-carbon composite material

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15587/1729-4061.2026.359357

Keywords:

carbon-carbon composite material, vacuum brazing, tungsten, phase formation, cathode

Abstract

This study investigates experimentally produced brazed joints between carbon-carbon composite material (CCCM) and tungsten in a vacuum.

The task addressed is to obtain high-temperature brazed joints capable of operating at temperatures of 1400–1600°C in a vacuum under conditions of high thermal cycling loads. Existing methods for joining CCCM with tungsten testify for a virtual lack of experience in brazing such materials, especially for structures of thermal emission equipment.

In this work, a method was used to produce a metallized layer zone with partial melting using a mixture of Ti-Nb-Zr powders on the inner surface of an CCCM sample. Subsequently, the CCCM and tungsten samples were brazed with a Ti-Nb filler metal at a temperature of 1840°C in a vacuum.

The results of microstructural analysis revealed that the brazed joint exhibits a zonal structure. Zone I – a reaction carbide layer (width 10–12 μm), zone II – diffusion layer (width up to 70 μm), zone III – reaction layer adjacent to tungsten (width up to 30 μm). The results of phase formation modeling conducted at a temperature of 1840°C indicate the predominant formation of TiC, NbC, Nb6C5, and Nb2C. Additionally, the distribution of C, Ti, Nb, and W in the brazed joint was determined. The results of the microhardness study confirmed the accuracy of the simulation and showed that microhardness values decrease from Zone I (2300 HV) to Zone III (500–600 HV).

The proposed solutions demonstrate that the metallized layer helps retain solder in the joint gap; reduces thermomechanical stresses; and promotes the formation of a gradual hardness gradient. Together, these characteristics improve the ductile properties of the brazed joint.

The results of this study could be applied in the field of instrument engineering, specifically in the manufacture of cathode components whose emitters are made from ultrafine powders of rare-earth borides or their alloys

Author Biographies

Roman Huba, Ukrainian State University of Science and Technologies

PhD Student

Department of Theoretical Basis of Metallurgical Processes

Liudmyla Kamkina, Ukrainian State University of Science and Technologies

Doctor of Technical Sciences, Professor, Dean

Department of Theoretical Basis of Metallurgical Processes

Serhii Bushtruk, Ukrainian State University of Science and Technologies

PhD Student

Department of Material Science and Heat Treatment of Metals

Andrii Troian, Flight Control LLC

Head of EPS Department

Serhii Asmolovskyi, Flight Control LLC

Design Engineer

Serhii Oslavskyi, Flight Control LLC

Design Engineer

References

  1. Hurin, I., Nevlyudov, I., Ovcharenko, V., Tokarieva, O. (2023). Current leads for resistive CCCM heaters. Integrated Technologies and Energy Saving, 4, 49–57. https://doi.org/10.20998/2078-5364.2023.4.05
  2. Qin, Y., Feng, J. (2007). Microstructure and mechanical properties of C/C composite/TC4 joint using AgCuTi filler metal. Materials Science and Engineering: A, 454-455, 322–327. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.msea.2006.11.056
  3. Wang, Z. Y., Li, M. N., Ba, J., Ma, Q., Fan, Z. Q., Lin, J. H. et al. (2018). In-Situ synthesized TiC nano-flakes reinforced C/C composite-Nb brazed joint. Journal of the European Ceramic Society, 38 (4), 1059–1068. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeurceramsoc.2017.11.059
  4. Prykhodko, V. E., Kulyk, A. V. (2001). Analysis of physicochemical processes of graphite with metals juncture in a fluid phase. Space Science and Technology, 7 (1s), 153–157. https://doi.org/10.15407/knit2001.01s.153
  5. Wen, Z., Lin, H., Chen, W., Bai, K., Zhang, L. (2023). High-throughput exploration of composition-dependent elasto-plastic and diffusion properties of refractory multi-element Ti-Nb-Zr-W alloys. Transactions of Nonferrous Metals Society of China, 33 (9), 2646–2659. https://doi.org/10.1016/s1003-6326(23)66287-9
  6. Oryshych, D. V., Ivasishin, O. M., Markovsky, P. E., Savvakin, D. G., Stasiuk, O. O., Bondarchuk, V. I. (2020). Peculiarities of Pore Structure Formation upon Zr–Ti–Nb Alloys Synthesis Using Hydrogenated Powder Blends. METALLOFIZIKA I NOVEISHIE TEKHNOLOGII, 42 (12), 1681–1700. https://doi.org/10.15407/mfint.42.12.1681
  7. Li, S., Du, D., Zhang, L., Song, X., Zheng, Y., Huang, G., Long, W. (2021). A review on filler materials for brazing of carbon-carbon composites. Reviews on Advanced Materials Science, 60 (1), 92–111. https://doi.org/10.1515/rams-2021-0007
  8. Pat. No. FR1254315A. Process for producing an assembly of titanium and graphite. declareted: 15.04.1960; published: 17.02.1961. Available at: https://patents.google.com/patent/FR1254315A/en?oq=1254315+FR
  9. Donnelly, R. G., Gillil, R. G., Slaughter, G. M. (1960). Pat. No. 3079251 US. Brazing alloys. declareted: 25.07.1960; published: 25.02.1963. Available at: https://patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/c3/67/cf/37b8b5281f7771/US3079251.pdf
  10. Wang, C., Yang, Y., Zeng, G., Zhou, X., Huang, H., Feng, S. (2023). Carbon–Carbon Composite Metallic Alloy Joints and Corresponding Nanoscale Interfaces, a Short Review: Challenges, Strategies, and Prospects. Crystals, 13 (10), 1444. https://doi.org/10.3390/cryst13101444
  11. Elrefaey, A., Tillmann, W. (2009). Effect of brazing parameters on microstructure and mechanical properties of titanium joints. Journal of Materials Processing Technology, 209 (10), 4842–4849. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmatprotec.2009.01.006
  12. Qin, Y., Feng, J. (2009). Active brazing carbon/carbon composite to TC4 with Cu and Mo composite interlayers. Materials Science and Engineering: A, 525 (1-2), 181–185. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.msea.2009.06.049
  13. Cao, J., He, Z., Qi, J., Wang, H., Feng, J. (2018). Brazing of C/C Composite to TiAl Alloy Using (Ti/Ni/Cu)f Multi-foil Filler. Journal of Mechanical Engineering, 54 (1), 108. https://doi.org/10.3901/jme.2018.09.108
  14. Shi, X., Jin, X., Yan, N., Yang, L. (2017). Influence of micro-oxidation on joints of C/C composites and GH3044 for large-size aerospace parts. Acta Astronautica, 140, 478–484. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actaastro.2017.09.015
  15. Wang, Y., Wang, W., Huang, J., Yu, R., Yang, J., Chen, S. (2019). Reactive composite brazing of C/C composite and GH3044 with Ag–Ti mixed powder filler material. Materials Science and Engineering: A, 759, 303–312. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.msea.2019.05.065
  16. Wang, Y., Wang, W., Huang, J., Zhou, S., Yang, J., Chen, S. (2021). Composite brazing of C/C composite and Ni-based superalloy using (Ag-10Ti)+TiC filler material. Journal of Materials Processing Technology, 288, 116886. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmatprotec.2020.116886
  17. Gribanov, Yu. A., Gurin, I. V., Gujda, V. V., Bukolov, A. N., Kolosenko, V. V. (2020). Investigation on corrosion properties of carbon-carbon composites. Problems of Atomic Science and Technology, 1 (125), 154–160. https://doi.org/10.46813/2020-125-154
  18. Peng, Y., Huang, G., Long, L., Zhou, P., Du, Y., Long, J. et al. (2020). A thermodynamic description of the C–Nb–Ti system over the whole composition and temperature ranges and its application in solidification microstructure analysis. Calphad, 70, 101769. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.calphad.2020.101769
  19. Zeng, Y., Zhou, P., Du, Y. (2018). Thermodynamic assessment of the C–Zr–Nb ternary system. Calphad, 61, 98–104. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.calphad.2018.02.009
  20. Haldar, B., Bandyopadhyay, D., Sharma, R. C., Chakraborti, N. (1999). The Ti-W-C (Titanium-Tungsten-Carbon) System. Journal of Phase Equilibria, 20 (3), 337–343. https://doi.org/10.1361/105497199770335866
  21. Rudy, E. (1969). Ternary Phase Equilibria in Transition Metal-Boron-Silicon Systems. Part II, Ternary Systems Volume XVIII. Constitution of Niobium-Tungsten- Carbon Alloys, Mater. Res. Lab., Aerojet-Gen. Corp., Sacramento, CA, USA. Available at: https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/trecms/pdf/AD0685186.pdf
  22. Roine, A. (2006). HSC Chemistry 6.0 User's Guide. Volume 1 / 2 Chemical Reaction and Equilibrium Software with Extensive Thermochemical Database and Flowsheet Simulation, 06120-ORC-T. Outokumpu Research Oy Information Service.
  23. Tashiro, M., Kasahara, A. (1994). Pat. No. 5904287A US. Method of bonding graphite to metal. declareted: 29.07.1994; published: 18.05.1999. Available at: https://patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/7d/a4/77/0ef368f2050bad/US5904287.pdf
  24. Shatynski, S. R. (1979). The thermochemistry of transition metal carbides. Oxidation of Metals, 13 (2), 105–118. https://doi.org/10.1007/bf00611975
Determining physical-chemical patterns during the formation of brazed joints between tungsten and carbon-carbon composite material

Downloads

Published

2026-04-30

How to Cite

Huba, R., Kamkina, L., Bushtruk, S., Troian, A., Asmolovskyi, S., & Oslavskyi, S. (2026). Determining physical-chemical patterns during the formation of brazed joints between tungsten and carbon-carbon composite material. Eastern-European Journal of Enterprise Technologies, 2(12 (140), 18–28. https://doi.org/10.15587/1729-4061.2026.359357

Issue

Vol. 2 No. 12 (140) (2026): Materials Science

Section

Materials Science

License

Copyright (c) 2026 Roman Huba, Liudmyla Kamkina, Serhii Bushtruk, Andrii Troian, Serhii Asmolovskyi, Serhii Oslavskyi

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

The consolidation and conditions for the transfer of copyright (identification of authorship) is carried out in the License Agreement. In particular, the authors reserve the right to the authorship of their manuscript and transfer the first publication of this work to the journal under the terms of the Creative Commons CC BY license. At the same time, they have the right to conclude on their own additional agreements concerning the non-exclusive distribution of the work in the form in which it was published by this journal, but provided that the link to the first publication of the article in this journal is preserved.

A license agreement is a document in which the author warrants that he/she owns all copyright for the work (manuscript, article, etc.).
The authors, signing the License Agreement with TECHNOLOGY CENTER PC, have all rights to the further use of their work, provided that they link to our edition in which the work was published.
According to the terms of the License Agreement, the Publisher TECHNOLOGY CENTER PC does not take away your copyrights and receives permission from the authors to use and dissemination of the publication through the world's scientific resources (own electronic resources, scientometric databases, repositories, libraries, etc.).
In the absence of a signed License Agreement or in the absence of this agreement of identifiers allowing to identify the identity of the author, the editors have no right to work with the manuscript.
It is important to remember that there is another type of agreement between authors and publishers – when copyright is transferred from the authors to the publisher. In this case, the authors lose ownership of their work and may not use it in any way.