explosion welding question

admin

dunno if anyone here has experience with this type of welding, but i gotta question about it if anyone knowswhat is the guidelines for backing/cladding ratio of thickness if anyand when welding clad together into a structure do you weld the backing metal to other backing metal, or do you weld the cladding to other claddingany info is appreciated, hard to find into on this welding procedure
Reply:Explosive bonding is kind of an extreme example of a process that is complex, perhaps not well understood even by the experts, and where a lot of experimentation would be needed to even come close to getting acceptable results.  There used to be a local company that did this, the big pieces they did out in the middle of nowhere, small work they did in a water tank.  Very interesting technology, cool to read about.This is a big buck process typically used by the military, or other very high end customers.  It has been around since the 1960s, but has always been a pretty exotic process.This article seemed good to me, for readers interesting in a little information on this topic.  http://www.reference.com/browse/explosive+weldingI would judge this process as being completely unsuitable for the hobbyist or small shop, practically limited to larger companies with big buck contracts.  I think that one might need serious math, physics, and engineering skills to understand the documents that are available.  One reason that little information is available is that most of the process information is probably treated as a trade secret.  You would need a strong theoretical understanding of explosives to even get started.Not to speak of the legal issues with dealing with explosives.Fun to think about, but probably about as impractical for an individual as building a car starting with iron ore and coal.As an aside, I know somebody who diffusion bonds dissimilar metals using heat and pressure in a small furnace.  Note that he is somebody with a very strong theoretical and practical understanding of metallurgy.   That process is one which could be used in a home shop to produce results similar to explosive bonding, might be worth looking at depending on what you want to do.  Not sure exactly how strong the bonds might be, as he is making exotic jewelry using iron and other metals.  He may not even need super-strong bonds, as long as the final product can withstand hammering and other processing.My two cents, based on what little I have read about the process, putting on my practical engineer hat.   I don't claim any expertise in this field.RichardSculptures in copper and other metalshttp://www.fergusonsculpture.comSyncrowave 200 Millermatic 211Readywelder spoolgunHypertherm 600 plasma cutterThermal Arc GMS300 Victor OA torchHomemade Blacksmith propane forge
Reply:You can weld to the backing or the cladding.  The most common appliaction where I see this is when installing aluminum superstructures on steel hulled boats.  At the joint a piece of data bar is used which has steel on one side and aluminum un the other.  You weld the steel to the steel hull and the aluminum to the aluminum superstructure.
Reply:Theres only one company that does it in the states and I believe its located in PA from what I remember of the modern marvels piece on the history of welding.  It was interesting to watch two dissimilar metals laid one on top of the other then covered with a precisely measured amount of powder explosive and then it was ignited, the downward blast force caused the two metals to fuse together through explosive compression and not actual welding but it was still an interesting process to watch.
Reply:http://www.google.com/search?q=explo...ient=firefox-aDid a google search and it looks like there is at least two companies now that do it and some resources that may help.
Reply:explosion welding is done to order. It's a rarefied process because of the expense and time to make just one sheet.  The ratio of cladding to backing is controlled by the application. The best example I could give was seeing it used to clad a lair of zirconium to a structural steel backing for a corrosion resistant pressure vessel.  The zirconium was needed due to the corrosion resistant properties and the steel was used to make up the net thickness for the pressure rating.  It would have been uneconomical to make a pressure vessel entirely out of zirconium as it costs $300 a pound.The manufacturer of the explosion welding process would be able to tell you the relevant design parameters.Last edited by Metarinka; 06-17-2010 at 01:08 PM.Welding EngineerCertified Scrap Producer
Reply:Explosion welding is used to make our $.  Sheet layers of silver, copper, zinc or whatever they use in our money are placed in an explosion chamber, and then stamped out as coins.6"XX P5P8 6G
Reply:The explosion process was once used to make the blanks for laminated coins, but that process is no longer used.From the Dynamic materials website:Banker tells of some of the first commercial production going to the US Mint for blanks to make new composite coins. The US government discontinued silver coins in the mid-1960s. DuPont’s new Detaclad Division supplied the first multi-layer coin blanks for dimes, quarters and fifty cent pieces. Detaclad supplied approximately 70 million pounds of coin blank stock to the mints in Denver and Philadelphia. The clad composite was a tri-layer: copper-nickel with a copper layer between. Six-inch thick billets were explosion welded, each about the size of a desktop and then sent to a hot rolling mill for conversion reduction to the coins’ near final gage. Coins are no longer made this way but it was high profile start for the infant technology.Sculptures in copper and other metalshttp://www.fergusonsculpture.comSyncrowave 200 Millermatic 211Readywelder spoolgunHypertherm 600 plasma cutterThermal Arc GMS300 Victor OA torchHomemade Blacksmith propane forge
Reply:Originally Posted by rafergusonExplosive bonding is kind of an extreme example of a process that is complex, perhaps not well understood even by the experts, and where a lot of experimentation would be needed to even come close to getting acceptable results.  There used to be a local company that did this, the big pieces they did out in the middle of nowhere, small work they did in a water tank.  Very interesting technology, cool to read about.This is a big buck process typically used by the military, or other very high end customers.  It has been around since the 1960s, but has always been a pretty exotic process.This article seemed good to me, for readers interesting in a little information on this topic.  http://www.reference.com/browse/explosive+weldingI would judge this process as being completely unsuitable for the hobbyist or small shop, practically limited to larger companies with big buck contracts.  I think that one might need serious math, physics, and engineering skills to understand the documents that are available.  One reason that little information is available is that most of the process information is probably treated as a trade secret.  You would need a strong theoretical understanding of explosives to even get started.Not to speak of the legal issues with dealing with explosives.Fun to think about, but probably about as impractical for an individual as building a car starting with iron ore and coal.As an aside, I know somebody who diffusion bonds dissimilar metals using heat and pressure in a small furnace.  Note that he is somebody with a very strong theoretical and practical understanding of metallurgy.   That process is one which could be used in a home shop to produce results similar to explosive bonding, might be worth looking at depending on what you want to do.  Not sure exactly how strong the bonds might be, as he is making exotic jewelry using iron and other metals.  He may not even need super-strong bonds, as long as the final product can withstand hammering and other processing.My two cents, based on what little I have read about the process, putting on my practical engineer hat.   I don't claim any expertise in this field.Richard
Reply:Originally Posted by 76GMC1500You can weld to the backing or the cladding.  The most common appliaction where I see this is when installing aluminum superstructures on steel hulled boats.  At the joint a piece of data bar is used which has steel on one side and aluminum un the other.  You weld the steel to the steel hull and the aluminum to the aluminum superstructure.
Reply:Originally Posted by Big65moparTheres only one company that does it in the states and I believe its located in PA from what I remember of the modern marvels piece on the history of welding.  It was interesting to watch two dissimilar metals laid one on top of the other then covered with a precisely measured amount of powder explosive and then it was ignited, the downward blast force caused the two metals to fuse together through explosive compression and not actual welding but it was still an interesting process to watch.
Reply:Originally Posted by Big65moparhttp://www.google.com/search?q=explo...ient=firefox-aDid a google search and it looks like there is at least two companies now that do it and some resources that may help.
Reply:Originally Posted by Metarinkaexplosion welding is done to order. It's a rarefied process because of the expense and time to make just one sheet.  The ratio of cladding to backing is controlled by the application. The best example I could give was seeing it used to clad a lair of zirconium to a structural steel backing for a corrosion resistant pressure vessel.  The zirconium was needed due to the corrosion resistant properties and the steel was used to make up the net thickness for the pressure rating.  It would have been uneconomical to make a pressure vessel entirely out of zirconium as it costs $300 a pound.The manufacturer of the explosion welding process would be able to tell you the relevant design parameters.
Reply:Originally Posted by CofeExplosion welding is used to make our $.  Sheet layers of silver, copper, zinc or whatever they use in our money are placed in an explosion chamber, and then stamped out as coins.
Reply:Originally Posted by rafergusonThe explosion process was once used to make the blanks for laminated coins, but that process is no longer used.From the Dynamic materials website:Banker tells of some of the first commercial production going to the US Mint for blanks to make new composite coins. The US government discontinued silver coins in the mid-1960s. DuPont’s new Detaclad Division supplied the first multi-layer coin blanks for dimes, quarters and fifty cent pieces. Detaclad supplied approximately 70 million pounds of coin blank stock to the mints in Denver and Philadelphia. The clad composite was a tri-layer: copper-nickel with a copper layer between. Six-inch thick billets were explosion welded, each about the size of a desktop and then sent to a hot rolling mill for conversion reduction to the coins’ near final gage. Coins are no longer made this way but it was high profile start for the infant technology.
Reply:Originally Posted by snappy101i doubt they would waste time talking to someone that wasnt gonna make them money in the long run, random curious cats aint worth their time  but ya, i dunno about the strength of zirconium but perhaps its too soft a metal to be completely made out of it too, some interesting stuff though
Reply:Originally Posted by CladManAlmost a year and a half later, but here we are.  You're right, most of us are too busy for curious cats, but I'd be interested in answering your questions if I can.  I work at Dynamic Materials, the world leader in explosion welding.  I direct new business and product development for them, so here I am - looking for creative ideas to use our stuff...Let me know what your questions are...I'll try to provide some answers.