Fatigue and fracture characterisation of copper-brazed 316L stainless steelBončina, Tonica (Avtor) Zupanič, Franc (Avtor) Nečemer, Branko (Avtor) Satošek, Roman (Avtor) Rihter, Erik (Avtor) Glodež, Srečko (Avtor) brazed jointfatigueexperimental testingmetallographic investigationThis study focuses on the mechanical, fatigue and metallographic characterisation of copper-brazed 316L stainless steel for the potential use in different plate heat exchangers (PHE) applications. The quasi-static and fatigue tests have been performed on the specially designed copper-brazed tensile specimens to obtain the engineering stress–strain diagram and the fatigue life curve of the analysed brazed joint. Furthermore, a comprehensive metallographic investigation has been done, focusing on (i) material characterisation of asreceived stainless steel 316L, (ii) characterisation of the brazed joint and (iii) fractographic analyses of fractured surfaces by quasi-static and fatigue loading. The obtained experimental results may be beneficial for designing copper-brazed plate heat exchangers in the future.Elsevier20262025-11-28 09:27:43Članek v reviji96060UDK: 539.3:620.1COBISS_ID: 256779267DOI: 10.1016/j.ijfatigue.2025.109333ISSN pri članku: 1879-3452sl