Residual clad formation and aluminum brazed joint topology prediction

A method for aluminum brazed joint topology prediction based upon the observation of residual clad formation has been proposed in this work. It was found that the residual clad layer had a uniform topology regardless of brazing profiles. Therefore, the consumed clad mass, which flowed into the brazed joint during brazing process and is essential for brazed joint topology prediction, could be indirectly calculated upon the measured residual clad thickness and the mass conservation principle. Based on such obtained consumed clad mass and the principle of minimum potential energy, the aluminum brazed joint topology had been predicted and the results are in good agreements with the experimental data.