Explosive cladding of Monel alloy tube and copper rod

Explosive cladding parameters directly affect the interfacial bonded quality, and they are crucial for choosing appropriate cladding parameters for different metal combinations. The "explosive cladding window" of Monel alloy/Cu bimetallic bonded rod was designed utilizing MATLAB software, and the Monel alloy/Cu explosive cladded rod with wavy interfaces was successfully fabricated by applying optimal cladding parameters. On this basis, the interfacial microstructure and mechanical properties of Monel alloy/Cu explosive cladded rod were investigated. The TEM results showed that the interface bonded region consists of three parts: the molten zone (amorphous, nanosized Ni3Si phases), the heat-affected zone (recrystallized grains), and the deformation zone (microbands). Deformation twins were present in the matrixes of Monel alloy and Cu. The number, morphology, and distribution of deformed twins on the two sides are different due to the different stacking fault energies of Monel alloy and Cu. Compression-shear separation tests revealed that the fracture occurred on the Cu side, indicating the interfacial bonded strength is higher than that of the Cu matrix. In addition, the interfacial hardness was lower than on the Monel alloy side but higher than on the Cu side, which is associated with severe deformation and recrystallization near the interface. This work provides a method combining theoretical design and experimental research for choosing the process parameters of bimetallic rods, which provides an important reference for optimizing explosive cladding parameters of heterogeneous metal and facilitates the wide application of explosive cladding techniques.