Impulsive methods of forming metals are now being ever more widely used. This applies particularly to methods that employ explosive energy. Explosive energy is being used for hardening and cleaning the surfaces of metal parts, as well as for forming, and explosive welding techniques are being extensively investigated. Nowadays, as service conditions become increasingly severe, in certain cases explosive hardening is almost the only solution. Thus, according to data reported by the DuPont company to an international conference held in London in April, 1962: "In spite of certain negative features of explosive hardening, the problem of increasing the life of railroad switch frogs is so urgent that t2 of the principal railroad companies in the United States are using the method (explosive hardening) for this purpose" [1]. Similar work was begun in 1960 at the Institute of Hydrodynamics of the Siberian Division of the AS USSR in collaboration with the Novosibirsk Railroad Switch Plant. The preliminary results of these experiments were published in [2]. a cons tan t ve loc i ty c h a r a c t e r i s t i c of the explosive in ques t ion (detonation veloci ty) (Table 1). Behind this wave front the explosive bu r ns and is conver ted into gaseous explosion p roduc t s .