Experimental and numerical studies on preparation of thin AZ31B/AA5052 composite plates using improved explosive welding technique

Abstract

In this work, an improved explosive welding technique was investigated to fabricate a thin Mg/Al plate, where an additional thin aluminum sheet was used as a buffer layer between the explosive and the Al plate, and the Mg plate was rigidly constrained by a steel plate to avoid excessive deformation. Moreover, the welding parameters were optimized using theoretical analysis and numerical simulation, and the interfacial behavior was simulated using the SPH method. The bonding properties of the achieved joints were investigated using microstructure observation and mechanical tests. It was concluded that this technique is an effective method for producing a thin Mg/Al composite plate. In both morphology observation and mechanical tests, an excellent bonding quality was confirmed. In addition, smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) simulation revealed an extreme condition of local high temperature and plastic strain in the welding process, and the characteristic parameters of waves obtained using simulation are well congruous with the experiment.