Joining of CBN abrasive grains to medium carbon steel with AgCu/Ti powder mixture as active brazing alloy

In order to develop new generation brazed CBN grinding wheels, the joining experiments of CBN abrasive grains and medium carbon steel using the powder mixture of AgCu alloy and pure Ti as active brazing alloy are carried out at elevated temperature under high vacuum condition. The relevant characteristics of the special powder mixture, the microstructure of the interfacial region, which are both the key factors for determining the joining behavior among the CBN grains, the filler layer and the steel substrate, are investigated extensively by means of differential thermal analysis (DTA), scanning electron microscope (SEM) and energy dispersion spectrometer (EDS), as well X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis. The results show that, similar to AgCuTi filler alloy, AgCu/Ti powder mixture exhibits good soakage capability to CBN grains during brazing. Moreover, Ti in the powder mixture concentrates preferentially on the surface of the grains to form a layer of needlelike TiN and TiB compounds by chemical metallurgic interaction between Ti, N and B at high temperature. Additionally, based on the experimental results, the brazing and joining mechanism is deeply discussed in a view of thermodynamic criterion and phase diagram of TiBN ternary system.