What is Brazing?

There are many questions regarding brazing. For those who are unaware, brazing involves joining two or more pieces of metal (or other selective materials) together. However, brazing is much different from soldering and welding. Brazing involves joining metals by heating and melting a filler. The “filler metal” should be compatible with the parent materials, in a metallurgic sense.

Brazing is often categorized based on the heating method that is utilized. A brazing company has a variety of options when it comes to brazing. Some popular brazing filler materials include aluminum, brass, bronze, nickel alloys, silver, and more. Here are some different methods of brazing to consider.

Vacuum Furnace Brazing

Vacuum furnace brazing is an industrial high-volume brazing technique where a metal with a lower melting point is used in order to join the materials. This is different from soldering because it uses a metal that melts about 450 degrees Celsius - otherwise, the brazing company is technically soldering at that point. Furnace brazing is an industrial high-volume technique that is used for both metals and ceramics.

Torch Brazing

Torch brazing is a brazing technique that a brazing company will often utilize for smaller production volumes. A hot gas torch is utilized to heat the workpieces and melt the filler alloy metal, and a brazing company can also torch braze a variety of metals. Almost all metals can be torch blazed, except for exceptions like titanium, zirconium, and specific types of stainless steel.

There are also different types of torch brazing: manual brazing, machine brazing, and automatic brazing. Manual brazing involves a hand-held torch, and it requires the most amount of human skill and labor. Automatic brazing is fully mechanized, and simply requires operators to load and unload the parts. Machine brazing is also a popular brazing company process, and it involves a brazing machine that automates the process.

Induction Brazing

A brazing company may also turn to induction brazing for their brazing needs, and the process is different from other brazing methods. Here, electromagnetic fields are utilized to provide heat without contact or flame. The magnetic field is generated by an alternating current.

With induction brazing, the heating cycle is usually much faster. Induction brazing generally works best with two pieces of similar metal. Induction brazing is used in a variety of sectors, such as the automotive industry, the home appliance industry, the aerospace industry, the air conditioning industry, and more.