An investigation into the explosive welding/cladding of Grade A ship steel/AISI 316L austenitic stainless steel

In this study, Grade A ship steel sheet (parent sheet) to AISI 316L austenitic stainless steel sheet (flyer sheet) used in offshore and ship building were cladded through explosive cladding at various explosive ratios. The effect of explosive ratio on the cladded joint interface was investigated. For this purpose, tensile-shear, impact toughness, bending, microhardness properties and microstructure of the explosively cladded joints were examined. Tensile-shearing tests results showed that shear and fracture took place in the AISI 316L sheet not in the joining interface. The impact toughness of the explosively cladded specimens at room temperatures was found significantly higher than that of parent sheet (Grade A) because of the high impact toughness of AISI 316L austenitic stainless steel layer. No separation was observed in the joint interface of the explosively cladded sheets after three-point bending. Hardness values of the explosively cladded joint increased with increasing explosive ratio and the highest hardness values were obtained near the interface. Microstructural examination showed that increasing explosive ratio transformed the cladding interface from smooth to wavy shape. Moreover, with increasing explosive ratio, the wavelength and amplitude of the waviness increased. It was also observed that grains near the interface were elongated parallel to the explosion direction. Consequently, mechanical properties of Grade A ship sheet can be increased by explosive cladding with AISI 316L austenitic stainless steel.