Hugoniot, Hugoniot elastic limit, and spall strength of a 98.9Ag1.0Cu0.1Al representative braze

As a high-temperature process, brazing between reactive materials can form an intermetallic compound within the braze joint. For these materials, understanding the properties of the virgin braze material may be insufficient to fully constrain the dynamic properties of the braze joint. We have created a custom alloy of 98.9Ag1.0Cu0.1Al to represent the intermetallic composition from using a silver braze alloy to join alumina ceramic and Kovar, a controlled expansion alloy designed to mate to alumina. Here we will present measurements of the Hugoniot, Hugoniot elastic limit, and spall strength of this custom alloy. Hugoniot measurements cover the stress range from 1-8 GPa using both forward ballistic and reverse ballistic impacts on a single-stage gas gun. The HEL and spall strength were evaluated at peak stresses 4-8 GPa. Results are compared to the pure-Ag primary constituent.