Effect of boron in suppressing the liquid metal embrittlement in drawable grade of steel

Abstract

In this work, the beneficial effect of boron in the alleviation of Liquid Metal Embrittlement (LME) of steel when brazed using Cu–Zn filler wire is discussed. Addition of boron to steel is found to suppress the diffusion of liquid metal along the grain boundaries during brazing. Whereas, steel without boron addition showed intergranular diffusion of the brazing alloy leading to failure. It was also observed that the addition of boron in steel caused a reduction in the $\overline{r}$ value due to the suppression of desirable {111} plane parallel to the sheet normal direction (ND). An optimal level of boron addition in steel is essential to maintain the drawability of steel while introducing the beneficial effects of boron to alleviate LME.

KEYWORDS:

• Liquid metal embrittlement (LME)
• brazing
• boron
• drawable steel
• texture

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).