Explosive Welding of Thin Aluminum Plate onto Magnesium Alloy Plate Using a Gelatin Layer as a Pressure-Transmitting Medium

Abstract

Mg alloys are extensively used in various automotive, aerospace, and industrial applications. Their limited corrosion resistance can be enhanced by welding a thin Al plate onto the alloy surface. In this study, we perform the explosive welding of a thin Al plate, accelerated by the detonation of an explosive through a gelatin layer as a pressure-transmitting medium, onto two Mg alloy samples: Mg96Zn2Y2 alloy containing a long-period stacking ordered phase in an α-Mg matrix and commercial AZ31. The bonding interface is characterized using optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and electron probe microanalysis. Under moderate experimental conditions, the thin Al plates are successfully welded onto the Mg alloys, showing typical wavy interfaces without intermediate layers. Due to the decreased energetic condition corresponding to the use of a thin flyer plate and gelatin medium, the resulting bonding quality is better than that obtained using a regular explosive welding technique. Further, based on the well-known window for explosive welding, we estimate that the experimental conditions for successful bonding are close to the lower welding limit for a thin Al plate with the two Mg alloys considered. These findings may contribute to improving the quality of materials welded with explosive welding.

Experimental and Numerical Studies on Preparation of Thin AZ31B/AA5052 Composite Plates Using Improved Explosive Welding Technique

“…In addition, a small number of cracks were found at the end of the clad, which are perpendicular to the detonation direction, as shown in Figure 5a. This result is consistent with previous work, where the macromorphology of Mg/Al explosive welding plates was also studied [22]. These cracks might be caused by tensile waves.…”

“…Fronczek et al [20] prepared a three-layered A1050/AZ31/A1050 composite plate via explosive welding, where intermetallic phases of Mg 2 Al 3 and Mg 17 Al 12 were found in the local melting zone. Zhang et al [21] studied the effect of annealing on the interface microstructure and mechanical characteristics of AZ31B/AA6061 explosive welding plates and found that intermetallic compounds of Al 3 Mg 2 and Al 12 Mg 17 tended to be generated at the bonding interface when the annealing temperature was at and above 250 • C. Recently, Inao et al [22] explored a modified explosive welding technique to join a thin Al plate onto an AZ31 plate using a gelatin layer as the pressure-transmitting medium. However, all the reports referred to explosive welding of a thick Mg plate to a thick Al plate or a thick Mg plate to a thin Al plate.…”

Impact Welding of Materials

“…Inao et al [5] joined a very thin aluminium plate to two different magnesium alloys (AZ31, Mg 96 Zn 2 Y 2 ) by explosion welding, using a gelatine layer as a pressure-transmitting medium. The lower energetic conditions associated with the use of a very thin flyer and the gelatine medium promoted better bonding quality than in conventional explosion welding.…”

Explosive Welding of Aluminum and Cast Iron for Potential Transportation and Structural Applications

“…Similarly, many researchers have carried out welding of aluminum in combination with various materials, such as AA150/Mg‐AZ31B, [ 18 ] Al alloy/Stainless steel, [ 19 ] Al/Iron, [ 20 ] Cu/Al, [ 21 ] Al/Mg. [ 22–25 ]…”