Electron beam welding of ceramic to metal using fore-vacuum plasma electron source

The possibility of creating ceramic-metal joints by electron beam welding is considered. The welding of alumina ceramic to aluminum and titanium was performed in the fore-vacuum pressure range (5–20 Pa) using a plasma electron source. The structure and composition of the ceramic-metal transition layer are investigated. It is shown that the transition-layer thickness exceeds substantially the microroughness size of the initial ceramic, which confirms that intermixing of materials, i.e., welding, has occurred. The dependence of breaking strength of the obtained joints on the electron-beam power is measured. A sharp difference in the strength depending on the metal selection is found: the ceramic-aluminum weld strength is an order of magnitude higher than the strength of the ceramic-titanium system.