COMPUTER-AIDED-DESIGN OF EXPLOSIVE WELDING SYSTEMS

Whilst explosive welding has reached the stage of commercial applicati on in some parts of the globe, it remains at laboratory and research l evel in other parts. The techniques, the development of the right expl osives, parameter optimisation and know-how are kept secret. Despite a thorough understanding of the process through theoretical and experim ental studies, optimisation attempts had been, by and large, through t rial-and-error means. The authors propose a procedure for the optimum fool-proof design of explosive welding systems. The procedure is based on the basic requirements of explosive bonding and conditions favoura ble for producing acceptable strong welds. A computer program has been developed for determining the optimum values of parameters of practic al importance. The program is usable for clad plates of different meta l combinations and thicknesses. The results obtained through the CAD n ot only suggest the correct explosive, its optimum loading and best su ited geometry for acceptable strong welds, but also predict the nature of the resulting interface. The authors believe that the CAD procedur e proposed will be useful to both researchers and industry, as a means of avoiding trial-and-error.