Effect of time on transient liquid phase bonding of electron beam melted Ti6242 titanium alloy to AISI 316L stainless steel

Despite rapid advancement of additive manufacturing methods in recent years, sufficient research on bonding of additively manufactured materials to conventional alloys has not been conducted.This study evaluates the bonding between austenitic stainless steel L316 and Ti-6242 alloy, fabricated by electron beam melting, using the transient liquid phase (TLP) bonding method.The TLP bonding was achieved using a copper interlayer and processing in a vacuum furnace, examining the effects of process time and surface roughness on bond quality.The samples were characterized by optical and scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, shear strength testing, and surface roughness measurement.Results showed that reducing the surface roughness increased the shear strength.Additionally, processing time significantly affected the element diffusion, formation of intermetallic compounds like FeTi and TiCu, and the shear strength of the joints.The highest shear strength of 200 MPa was obtained with surface preparation by grinding and polishing and bonding at 980C for 120 minutes.