How Strong Is solder? – Let’s Find Out

Soldering is a process that is being preferred by professionals from the old times and is still an effective technique to bond metals. It is a method of creating a bond between different types of metals with a solder's help.

Many people create confusion between soldering and welding, but the fact is that soldering is quite different from the welding process. Soldering is a significant method in different industries and comes along with various pros and cons.

Solder Definition

Soldering is conducted with a solder's help, a metal alloy with a lower melting point and is considered additional material for soldering. This solder is used because the base pieces added to the bond do not get hot enough to melt. As a result, the solder creates the joining connection.

To implement strong joints like the copper pipe joints and copper joining in circuit boards, solder is essential. Inside every solder, you will find a flux, a material to improve the metal alloy's performance. The solder pieces usually come in different types and diameters.

Different Kinds of Soldering and How Strong are Soldering Bonds

The soldering process is most commonly divided into three categories that utilize higher temperatures to create stronger joints. These are-

Hard Soldering

This soldering type requires a temperature above 450 degrees celsius and implements brass or silver as the bonding metal. While working, you will normally see the temperature going about 600 degrees Celsius.

To achieve the higher temperatures, a blowtorch is required. It ensures a stronger joint in metal works, and that is why it is commonly used in joining metallic surfaces.

Soft Soldering

The soft soldering process requires a temperature less than 450 degrees celsius and above 90 degrees celsius. Because of the low temperatures, the components used for soldering go through less thermal stress. However, the joints produced in this process are not strong enough in comparison with the hard soldering. That is why this process is quite inappropriate for load-bearing applications.

Brazing

Brazing is quite different from the other two because a different metal is used that has a higher melting temperature than the ones used in hard and soft soldering. However, you can consider this type as very similar to hard soldering as temperatures are increased above 450 degrees celsius to create the perfect bond between the parts.

In this category, the soldering metal is placed in between the joining materials after being heated sufficiently. As a result, the soldering metal acts as a bonding agent that ensures very strong joints.

Hard soldering and brazing are effective and commonly used welding processes in different sectors of metalworking because of their high strength properties. Higher temperatures are reached during these applications, which ensure stronger bonds between the materials. That is why in many Industries, the operators prefer soldering above welding.

Final Note

We all are aware of the fact that welding joints are the strongest. But according to facts and technical proves, solder joints are not that far behind. The application of brazing along with hard soldering can be used to achieve more powerful joints.

There is no doubt with strength and mightiness that comes along with joints created by the soldering process as it implements a third-party material along with higher temperatures to ensure the perfect bond. That is why in most cases, people prefer soldering above welding as it is easier to operate and is efficient.

You can go ahead with the plan of conducting different operations using the soldering technique because it will prove to be a strong solution for your metal joints.