Effect of Initial Hardness on Interfacial Features in Underwater Explosive Welding of Tool Steel SKS3

摘要

This paper aims at investigating effects of initial hardness on interfacial features for identical compositional materials under identical welding conditions. Two underwater explosive welding experiments on tool steel SKS3 with copper foil were carried out: one as-received and the other heat-treated. The welding process was simulated using the commercially available software package LS-DYNA. Numerical simulation gave deformation of the flyer/base plate and pressure distribution during the welding process. Microstructure and hardness at interface of the welded metals were evaluated. The results indicate that decreasing impact energy is accompanied by a shift from wavy to linear interface. Moreover, a comparison of the two experiments allows the conclusion that high initial hardness results in a decrease of wavelength and amplitude under identical welding conditions. Hardness profiles of as-received tool steel-copper welding reveal the hardening effect of impact in the vicinity of the interface. However, of interest is that a decrease in hardness was seen in the case of heat-treated martensitic tool steel with copper, fundamentally differing from previous explosive welding research; phase transition is proposed to discuss the relation between the effects of impact and heat, and those of work hardening and softening.