Experimental and numerical study on the explosive welding of niobium-steel

Abstract

The aim of this work is to study the method of explosive welding to produce niobium-steel composite plate, which is used in nuclear industry equipment material manufacturing. The welding parameters were determined by weldability window, and numerical simulation was used to predict the wave shape of the welding interface. The morphology of the interface wave was observed by scanning electron microscope. Measured element distribution near the interface. The experimental samples were investigated using mechanical tests. The results show that the welding parameters optimized by theory and numerical simulation can be used to obtain a niobium-steel composite plate with better welding quality. It can be proved that the welding quality is better by observing the interface wave and testing the mechanical properties; it can be seen that the melting zone of the welding interface is composed of niobium and steel by the composition analysis instrument. The morphology of the welding interface wave is consistent with the numerical simulation results, and the numerical simulation shows the changes of temperature, strain, and stress during the welding process.