Acceleration of metal plates by hybridization of electrical and chemical energy for potential application in high-velocity impact welding

Abstract

Vaporizing foil actuator welding is employed to connect dissimilar metals by utilizing the energy of an electrical explosion as the driving force for flyer plate acceleration. Herein, the electrical and chemical energies of explosives were combined to increase flyer plate velocity. A metal foil or wire mesh was used as an actuator, and a small amount of explosives was placed on the foil. Uniform acceleration of the flyer plate on the actuator was recorded using a high-speed video camera. The electrical energy applied to the actuator was measured synchronously by filming. The explosion of chemical explosives was successfully initiated owing to the electrical explosion of the actuator. In all experiments, the combination of the electrical explosion and chemical reaction improved the acceleration of the samples, facilitating higher velocities. The impact of the actuator type (mesh or foil) and the electric discharge parameters on the performance was studied. While foil actuators were more efficient in experiments on electric explosions alone, mesh actuators were superior when the chemical explosive was added. Explosions of the mesh actuator could initiate low density pentaerythritol tetranitrate (PETN) (the space-filling rate of PETN was approximately 30%). An explosive force of 0.3 g of PETN was converted into a driving force, imparting the flying plate with a velocity greater than 210 m/s. Electrical energy consumption for PETN initiation may be assumed to have an insignificant impact on flyer plate acceleration. In future, the proposed method may be used to connect heavier and thicker materials without expensive high-performance capacitors.