Investigation of titanium plates of different metals by explosive welding method and investigation of their interface properties

The purpose of this study is to produce composite plates through explosive welding process widely used in developed countries and is of great importance to produce such plates and unfortunately currently its use in our country is not common. In this study, stainless steel-titanium, low carbon steel-titanium and aluminium-titanium plates were joined explosively employing oblique geometry route at different explosive ratios. The bondings were investigated using optical and scanning electron microscopy and tensile-shearing, bending, hardness and corrosion tests were carried out. Optical and scanning electron microscopy examinations showed that a transition was observed from smooth bonding interface to a wavy one with increasing explosive ratio. It was also observed that grains near the interface were elongated parallel to the explosion direction. No shearing within the interface was seen from the tensile-shear tests and fracture took place within the low strength material. The bended specimens showed that defects such as separation and tearing were not observed. It is seen from microhardness measurements on the welded specimens that hardness was increased with increasing explosive ratio and the highest hardness values were obtained near IV the bonding interface. Weight increase due to formation of a stable oxide layer on the welded stainless steel-titanium plates was seen from corrosion tests while weight loss was seen from the other specimens and this loss was increased with increasing explosive ratio.Key words Explosive welding, titanium, corrosion, interface