Experimental Study on Underwater Explosive Weld Interface and Mechanical Properties of Carbon Steel–Stainless Steel

ABSTRACT To investigate the influence of the thickness of the intermediate water layer and the thickness of the explosive on the quality of underwater explosive welding of Q235R carbon steel 304 stainless steel, underwater explosive welding experiments were designed under different process conditions. The bonding speed and bonding pressure of the base composite plate during the welding process were tested, and the waveform and mechanical properties of the bonding interface of the composite plate were tested. The experimental results show that its tensile strength is between 444.2750 and 464.7724 MPa, with an average tensile strength of 454.5337 MPa, which is 7%–13% higher than the composite plate prepared by the hot rolling process. When the thickness of the explosive layer and the intermediate water layer is 10 mm and the bonding pressure is 865 MPa, the welding is successful. When the thickness of the explosive layer is 20 mm, as the thickness of the intermediate water layer increases from 10 to 30 mm, the bonding pressure decreases from 8668 to 3245 MPa, and the welding is successful. However, when the thickness of the intermediate layer was further increased to 40 mm, the welding failed and the bonding pressure dropped to 1084 MPa. Due to the fixed thickness of the intermediate water layer, increasing the thickness of the explosive layer will weaken the mechanical strength of the composite plate. Our research provides theoretical support for the preparation of composite metals by explosive welding, which is of great significance for promoting the development of explosive welding technology.