Simulation of mechanical and thermal behavior in explosive welding of aluminum 1050 to copper

Explosive welding is a solid-state joining method used for bonding dissimilar metals. In this study, the effect of stand-off distance on the mechanical and thermal behavior of aluminum 1050 to copper joints was investigated using Abaqus 6.12. The Johnson-Cook model was used to simulate the mechanical response, and the Williams-Bourg equation of state modeled the explosive material. The results showed that increasing the stand-off distance from 1.5 mm to 5 mm increased the impact velocity of the flyer plate from 900 m/s to 1073 m/s, and raised the dynamic impact angle from 20.70° to 24.75°. Plastic strain in the collision area and peak pressure (exceeding several GPa) also increased with stand-off distance. Optical microscopy confirmed that higher stand-off distances led to vortex-like wave formations and localized melting at the interface. These findings provide valuable insights for optimizing explosive welding parameters to achieve stronger and more uniform joints.