Bond strength of explosively welded specimens

Although the explosive welding process has been in commercial use since the mid-1950s it is to a large extent still empirical in nature, the effect of process variables on the final product is not fully understood and often the reasons for failure are unclear. The cost of failure can be unacceptably high especially when large sections of more exotic materials are to be welded. To investigate the process more closely a series of explosive welding trials were performed with the aim of assessing how process variables affect the strength of the bond. Standard shear strength tests were made and a novel test developed to measure the interfacial tensile peel strength (fracture toughness) of the explosively bonded metal plates. This test provides entirely new data, since the traditional test for the efficacy of such bonding is a shear test. The notched shear test was also developed using monolithic bars. Experimental data were obtained for a range of explosively bonded plates.