Investigations on arc brazing for galvanized heavy steel plates in steel and shipbuilding

Arc brazing with low-melting copper-based filler materials, which has long been established and standardized in the thin sheet sector, offers numerous advantages in the processing of predominantly electrolytically galvanized steel structures. In steel and shipbuilding, on the other hand, equipment parts made of thick steel sheets are hot-dip galvanized at low cost and with good corrosion-inhibiting properties. Quality welding of such constructions is not possible without special precautions such as removing the zinc layer and subsequent recoating. With regard to greater plate thicknesses, arc brazing was analyzed in these investigations as an alternative joining method with regard to its suitability for practical use. Within the scope of the investigations, CuSi3Mn, CuMn12Ni2, and four different aluminum bronzes were examined on different sheet surface conditions with regard to the geometrical and production parameters. This was carried out by build-up and connection brazing, executed as butt and cross joints. Quasi-static tensile tests and fatigue tests were used to assess the strength behavior. In addition, metallographic analyses are carried out as well as hardness tests. The suitability for multi-layer brazing and the tendency to distortion were also investigated, as well as the behavior of arc brazed joints under corrosive conditions.