Explosive Welding of SS304 and Al6061 Using Copper as Interlayer – Development of Trial Methodology and its Optimisation

This paper explains the technique of explosive welding for joining SS304 and Al 6061 using Copper interlayer. The joining was done in two stages. In the first stage SS304 (thickness: 20 mm) was joined to Copper (thickness: 3mm). Second stage involved joining of SS-Cu plate to Al 6061 (thickness: 8 mm).The paper presents detailed discussion on important parameters required for explosive welded process. The most important parameter is minimum and maximum flyer plate velocity required for creating the impact. Collision angle and angle of impact are also discussed. Another important parameter is the Velocity of detonation (VOD) of explosive to be used. The explosives used have VOD of the order of 2500 m/s and 1600 m/sec. Since the explosive welding process involves formation of jet between two surface, therefore surface conditions of the base and flyer plate like its flatness, roughness and cleanliness which are very critical for proper joining have been discussed in this paper. Chisel test (which is considered to be most rugged test) was conducted on the joint. The test confirmed successful joining.The paper explains how use of trimonite expands the weldability window in comparison to NGU when used for direct SS to Al alloy welding.It also compares the results obtained by use of two different powder explosives to obtain the same tri-layered plate via two different routes. The results are particularly interesting because both the explosives have substantial difference in their properties such as Velocity of Detonation, Gurney Characteristic Velocity, density and homogeneity which can be used as advantages from different angles of views.