Joining of C/C composites to copper

High heat flux components in International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) are designed as layered structures. In particular, in the heat sink, the assembling of the different parts foresees several joints between C/C composites and Cu alloy. In this paper, two methods to join silicon doped C/C (CFC NS31) to pure copper are described. One method concerns the use of a commercial brazing alloy (70Ti-15Cu-15Ni). The brazing process was optimised and the shear strength of the joined samples resulted to be comparable to the interlaminar shear strength of the C/C composite. The second technique is based on the casting of copper on C/C. The C/C surface was modified by direct reaction with a transition metal. The obtained modified C/C resulted very well wettable by molten copper. The morphological analysis of the C/C-Cu samples was performed. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.