Soldering of copper-clad niobium--titanium superconductor composite

Technical Report · Fri Apr 01 00:00:00 EST 1977

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/7215719· OSTI ID:7215719

Moorhead, A. J.; Woodhouse, J. J.; Easton, D. S.

When superconductivity is applied to various electrical devices, the joining of the superconducting material and the performance of the joints are generally crucial to the successful operation of the system. Although many techniques are being considered for joining composite superconductors, soldering is the most common. We determined the wetting and flow behavior of various solder and flux combinations on a copper-clad Nb-Ti composite, developed equipment and techniques for soldering and inspection of lap joints, and determined the shear strength of joints at temperatures down to -269/sup 0/C (4/sup 0/K). We studied 15 solders and 17 commercial and experimental fluxes in the wettability and flow tests. A resistance unit was built for soldering test specimens. A series of samples soldered with 80 Pb-20 Sn, 83 Pb-15 Sn-2 Sb, 97.5 Pb-1.5 Ag-1 Sn, 80 In-15 Pb-5 Ag, or 25 In-37.5 Pb-37.5 Sn (wt percent) was inspected by three nondestructive techniques. Through-transmission ultrasound gave the best correlation with nonbond areas revealed in peel tests. Single-lap shear specimens soldered with 97.5 Pb-1.5 Ag-1 Sn had the highest strength (10.44 ksi, 72 MPa) and total elongation (0.074 in., 1.88 mm) at -269/sup 0/C (4/sup 0/K) of four solders tested.

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: US Energy Research and Development Administration (ERDA)
• DOE Contract Number: W-7405-ENG-26
• OSTI ID: 7215719
• Report Number(s): ORNL/TM-5774; TRN: 77-011420
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS
SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY
NIOBIUM ALLOYS
SOLDERING
TIN ALLOYS
COATINGS
COPPER
INDIUM ALLOYS
LEAD ALLOYS
MECHANICAL PROPERTIES
SILVER ALLOYS
SOLDERED JOINTS
SUPERCONDUCTING COMPOSITES
ALLOYS
COMPOSITE MATERIALS
ELEMENTS
FABRICATION
JOINING
JOINTS
METALS
TRANSITION ELEMENTS
WELDING
360301* - Composite Materials- Preparation & Fabrication- (-1987)
656102 - Solid State Physics- Superconductivity- Acoustic
Electronic
Magnetic
Optical
& Thermal Phenomena- (-1987)