What Is Kovar Alloy

Kovar alloy KOVAR, also known as ASTM F 15 alloy, is a controllable expansion alloy, which is usually used for metal seals, covers, lead frames and electronic packaging bases of high integrity glass and ceramics. Kovar is made of nickel, cobalt and iron. This alloy is designed to meet the technological requirements of the computer, microwave, hydride, semiconductor and space age. Therefore, it is an important resource in the national defense, aerospace and telecommunications industries. ASTM F15 undergoes a strict vacuum melting process to produce the highest level of cleanliness and a more uniform alloy. ASTM F15 alloy (Kovar) is very stable, has passed the standard phase transformation test at - 80 ℃, and remains stable at - 196 ℃.

Kovar alloy is a nickel-cobalt iron alloy designed to be compatible with the thermal expansion characteristics of borosilicate glass (between 30 and 200 ° C~5 × 10-6/K,~10 at 800 ° C × 10-6/K) to achieve direct mechanical connection within a certain temperature range. It is used for electroplating conductors, glass envelopes entering electronic components, such as vacuum tubes (valves), X-ray and microwave tubes, and some light bulbs.

The name Kovar is often used as a general term for FeNi alloys with these special thermal expansion properties. Please note the relevant special Fe-Ni alloy Invar, which shows minimal thermal expansion. F15 nickel alloy usually hardens quite quickly. The high pressure generated by processing will lead to hardening and slow down the progress, and also cause some materials to warp. Make sure you have a rigid setting, work at low speed, and try to use sulfide mineral oil. When processing Kovar (ASTM F15 alloy), it is often quite gelatinous. The cutting tool often cuts through the metal directly, rather than cutting it. When processing F15, it is very important to completely control the heating, because excessive heat accumulation will lead to alloy deformation. When machining metal, you must ensure that the feather or wire edge is removed from the tool. As you have always done, make sure that every tool is continuously checked. Carbide tools will provide you with the highest cutting rate without edge collapse, and should be used for turning operations without interruption of cutting. If you have interrupted cutting, please use high-speed steel tools. Your drill bit should be as short as possible. When reaming, you should only drill at half speed, and your feed rate should be about 3 times the speed of your drill bit, so as to expand the hole safely. Whether you are processing the coil or plate of this controllable expansion alloy, or manufacturing glass to metal or ceramic to metal seals.

Application of KOVAR:

1. Electronic packaging base, cover, lead frame and glass-to-metal sealing.

2. Communication, aircraft and aviation industry, military and national defense.

3. Semiconductor and microwave.