TEM Study of Microstructure in Explosive Welded Joints Between Zircaloy-4 and Stainless Steel

The microstructure of explosive welded joints between Zircaloy-4 and 18/8 stainless steel has been investigated by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The metallurgical bonding was achieved by combining effect of diffusion and local melting when the explosive parameters were selected correctly. The molten region which consists of amorphous and crystalline with hexagonal crystal structure is hard and brittle. But the welded joints can be pullled, bent and cold rolled without cracks formed on the bonding layer, so as the molten regions are small and distributed as isolated islands.