Cracksmayeasilyoccurinthefusionweldbetweenvanadiumalloysandstainlesssteelduetothebrittleintermetallicsandweldingstress.Thehighvacuumelectronbeambraze-weldinghasbeensuccessfullyusedtojoinvanadiumalloy(V-5Cr-5Ti)tostainlesssteel(HR-2)withelectroplatedCuandAgcoating.Toinvestigatetheeffectsofelectroplatedcoatingontheweldability,thejointappearance,themicrostructureandthemechanicalpropertiesofthejointshavebeenthoroughlyanalyzed.Theresultsshowthatthejointsurfaceconfigurationwasgoodandrootreinforcementwasfullandsmooth.Areactionzone(RZ)wasgainedontheinterfacebetweentheVSCrSTialloyandHR-2stainlesssteelbasemetals.Thewidthofreactionzoneatthetopofthejointwasupto0.65mm,widerthanthatinthebottomofthejoint(0.46mm).Thereactionzoneconsistedofconsiderablysmallerdendriticstructureswithanaveragegrainsizeoflessthan10μm.ElementAgandCualmostenrichedtheinterfacebetweenV-5Cr-5TialloysubstrateandRZ,servingasaphysicalbarrierwhichdecreasesoravoidstheformationofintermetallics.Themaximumtensilestrengthofvanadiumalloy/stainlesssteeldissimilaralloyjointwasmorethan300MPa.Thejointwasdefectsfree.
