Experimental and Numerical Simulation Study on Microstructural Defect Control at Ti/Al Explosive Welding Clad Plates Interface

Abstract

Titanium–aluminum explosive welding clad plates are extensively utilized in the aerospace and petrochemical industries. However, the presence of cracks and holes at the interface of these clad plates can adversely affect their strength and sealing performance. To mitigate the occurrence of such defects, explosive welding experiments were conducted on titanium and aluminum plates by varying the welding parameters. The experimental results reveal that the explosive welding interface of Ti/Al exhibits a regular corrugated shape, which tends to flatten due to aluminum’s low melting point and strength. Notably, when the welding parameters do not exceed collision velocity \(V_{p} \le 839\;{\text{m/s}}\) collision angle \(\beta \le 17.24^\circ \), there are no discernible vortex holes at the interface, and the melting zone remains small. The melting zone at the interfaces of different welding parameters contains various intermetallic compounds. Although the shear strength of the titanium–aluminum welding interface surpasses that of aluminum, it is unstable due to the influence of titanium content and the presence of crack holes. Simulations of the welding process using AUTODYN indicate that the derived trend of ripple morphology changes in the simulation interface offers valuable reference for the experiment.