Abstract
Metal joining by brazing or diffusion bonding is typically performed at temperatures around 1573K. At such temperatures, atmosphere or vacuum furnaces are required to avoid metal oxidation while heating. The drawbacks of atmosphere furnaces are their use of explosive gases such as hydrogen and the inability of using metal conveyor belts above 1423K. In this study, a non-oxidizing continuous furnace that uses only inert gas atmospheres was developed to work in conjunction with a carbon/carbon composite conveyor belt that can be used up to 2873K, and was used in metal joining processes. The development of the furnace, its working principle and features, and its application in brazing and diffusion bonding of stainless steel are reported with supporting experimental data.
