Fabrication of automotive heat exchanger using kinetic spraying process

The conventional manufacturing process of the automotive brazed heat exchanger includes complex preparation processes before brazing: aluminum brazing filler alloy is pre-claded on both sides of a fin by an extrusion method, and holed aluminum tubes are coated on both sides with Zn for corrosion protection by a wire arc spraying process.The intent of this study is to simplify the preparation process by kinetic spraying using all of the components, including Al-12%Si (for the brazing filler metal), Zn (for corrosion protection), and KAlF4 (flux powder). Four kinds of blended powders were evaluated with and without flux. The bond properties and composition distribution of composition at the braze joint area were evaluated by scanning electron microscope (SEM) and electron probe micro analyzer (EPMA).In this study, kinetic spray condition was optimized, in order to fabricate the heat exchanger. It was observed that the joints of the brazed specimens at each side were sounder than that achieved by the conventional methods. It is necessary to control the Zn content to get the high corrosion resistance and good brazeability of the aluminum heat exchanger. Further, the kinetic sprayed heat exchanger showed acceptable corrosion protection.