Elcon’s Edge: How Proprietary Metallization Enhances Brazed Assembly Quality

Brazing has become a crucial process for assemblies used in critical applications across aerospace and defense, as it can create strong, precise, and reliable joints in challenging environments.

To ensure the performance, durability, and reliability of these brazed assemblies, the metallization process is essential for achieving strong, hermetic, and long-lasting bonds. 

Backed by industry-leading certifications and accreditations, Elcon Precision leads the way in metallization techniques, offering clients superior quality and precision in brazed components. With our exclusive process, we metallize precision ceramic and sapphire components for critical defense, medical, and aerospace applications.

In this article, we explore the vital role metallization plays in quality brazed assemblies, the advantages of proprietary metallization, and the key applications and benefits.

Understanding Metallization in Brazing

Metallization is fundamental in preparing ceramic surfaces for brazing, facilitating optimal adhesion between the base metals and the filler material.

Specializing in ceramic metallization, Elcon delivers tailored solutions for customers who require an electrical circuit path or joining a metal component with ceramic (brazed assemblies).

The Proprietary Metallization Advantage

At Elcon, we’ve developed metallization techniques designed to enhance the quality of brazed assemblies to ensure optimal strength, durability, and performance - especially for aerospace and defense applications. 

Our methods include specific combinations of materials, surface treatments, or application techniques that are proprietary to Elcon Precision and not commonly available in the industry.

We’ve created these techniques to offer our clients clear advantages and superior outcomes in their brazing projects. 

We offer a range of deposition methods based on ceramic geometry, including needle, brush, and screen printing.

In addition to our metallization process, our advanced hydrogen and vacuum furnaces enable precise control over the sintering and brazing environment. The hydrogen furnaces provide a reducing environment, preventing oxidation of components and assemblies. Our vacuum furnaces enable precise temperature control and guarantee no contamination from carbon, oxygen, and other gasses.

The Key Applications and Benefits of Metallization

Metallization plays a critical role in enhancing the performance of brazed assemblies, especially in applications that must withstand extreme conditions such as high vacuum, high voltage, and high-pressure environments. 

Some key applications include power grid tubes, vacuum interrupters, RF windows, metalized rings, and components for insulators and sensors.

As essential components in electrical power transmission systems, power grid tubes rely on refractory metallization to ensure reliable operation under high voltage and current conditions. 

The refractory metallization of vacuum interrupters is also vital to maintaining hermetic seals in high vacuum environments and preventing gas leaks. The metalized layers provide a durable barrier against gas permeation, ensuring optimal performance and reliability in interrupting electrical currents safely and efficiently.

RF (Radio Frequency) windows, crucial for transmitting and receiving electromagnetic signals in communication systems, utilize refractory metallization to achieve low insertion loss and high power handling capabilities. Metalized RF windows exhibit excellent electrical conductivity and thermal stability, enabling seamless transmission of RF signals while withstanding high power levels without degradation.

Metalized rings and components for insulators and sensors in various industrial applications also rely on refractory metallization to ensure secure bonding between the base materials using appropriate brazing filler material.

Quality Assurance and Accreditations

When you work with Elcon Precision, you can rest assured knowing you’re working with a team committed to industry-best quality. We uphold the highest quality standards for metallization and brazing to ensure optimal performance, durability, and reliability.

Leveraging state-of-the-art inspection tools, we perform several qualification tests on the ceramics (push cup test, pull test) to verify strength and durability, but our quality commitment doesn’t stop there. In addition to our stringent quality standards, we are also AS9100D-certified, ISO 9001:2015-certified, ITAR-registered, and RoHS-compliant. We also use DFARS-compliant ceramic and metal components where required.

Elcon’s Range of Services

For more than 50 years, Elcon Precision has manufactured the industry's highest-quality precision components and assemblies specifically designed for mission-critical applications. Whether in fully custom prototyping or high-volume production, we provide clients in aerospace, energy, medical, defense, and space flight with precision parts that are built to succeed.

We partner closely with you at every step to ensure your application works, employing team-wide expertise in our core disciplines of brazed assembly and ceramic metallization.

What sets Elcon apart is our ability to provide turnkey manufacturing solutions with superior metallization capabilities. Our expertise extends to machining metal components for brazed assemblies, ensuring precision and durability in every product. Moreover, our comprehensive services include cleaning and plating, essential steps that guarantee the quality and longevity of your parts. Trust Elcon for a complete solution from start to finish, delivering excellence in every aspect of the manufacturing process.

We braze and metallize a wide range of materials. These include:

We provide electrolytic and electroless plating in compliance with ASTM, ASM, and MIL-SPEC standards, offering plated surfaces ready for brazing and soldering and protected from corrosion.  

Our advanced glazing enhances corrosion resistance, electrical insulation, and hardness.

Your Trusted Partner For Metallization and Brazing

Our proprietary metallization process creates a strong and robust bond to many different ceramic bodies and is nearly universally applicable for ceramic-to-metal brazing.

With more than five decades of industry experience, the Elcon team has the expertise and experience to handle your brazing and metallization needs. Contact us today or request a quote.