An Interface-Enriched eXtended Finite Element-Level Set Simulation of Solutal Melting of Additive Powder Particles during Transient Liquid Phase Bonding

A new numerical simulation model is developed by using an interface-enriched eXtended Finite Element-Level Set (XFE-LS) method to study the solute-induced melting of additive powder particles (APPs) during transient liquid phase (TLP) bonding. The robust model captures rapidly occurring concurrent interfacial events at multiple propagating liquid-solid interfaces to simulate the melting behavior. In contrast to the critical assumption in analytical models, numerical calculations show that solute-transport into the APPs during the equilibration of the liquid composition is a significant factor that affects the APPs melting behavior. Also, the study shows that the solute-transport dependence of extent of APPs melting is influenced by the kinetics of solid-state solute diffusion within the particles. The understanding generated by the numerical analysis has resulted in the use of interlayer powder mixture that contains base-alloy APPs to produce single crystal TLP joint that has matching crystallographic orientations with single crystal substrate material, at a substantially reduced processing time, which has been previously considered unfeasible.