Explosive cladding of a thin Ni-film to an aluminium alloy

A thin Ni-film has been cladded to an aluminium alloy by the use of an explosive. Two film thicknesses (50 and 100 μm) and four explosive compositions have been used. The cladding has been characterised by surface topography, microhardness measurements, optical and scanning electron microscopy, and energy dispersive spectroscopy; residual stresses through the film and the bonding have been determined by X-ray diffraction. In all cases, a good quality bonding is obtained, with a low roughness on the film surface. Compressive residual stresses have been measured from the surface to the bonding.