Corrosion of Ti–STS dissimilar joints brazed by a Ag interlayer and Ag–Cu–(Pd) alloy fillers

Corrosion behavior of dissimilar brazed joints between titanium Gr. 2 (Ti) and S31254 stainless steel (STS) was investigated. For the study, a Ag interlayer and two Ag-base eutectic alloys, 72Ag–28Cu and 66.2Ag–25.8Cu–8Pd (wt.%), were introduced as a diffusion control layer and fillers, respectively, between the base materials. The joints commonly had a layered structure of Ti(base)/TiAg/Ag solid solution/STS(base), but the one brazed by the Ag–Cu–Pd filler was slightly alloyed with the noble Pd elements over the Ag-rich solid solution region. A series of corrosion test experiments in a sea water revealed that a corrosion of TiAg layer and a stress-induced cracking at the TiAg/Ag solid solution interface were dominant due to a galvanic attack, but notably the Ti–STS dissimilar joint’s resistance to corrosion was significantly improved by alloying the Pd in the joint. The corrosion behavior of such dissimilar metal joints was discussed based on galvanic corrosion effect.