Experimental and numerical simulation study of Zr-based BMG/Al composites manufactured by underwater explosive welding

Using the underwater explosive welding technique, the Zr60Ti17Cu12Ni11 bulk metallic glass (Zr-based BMG) and Aluminum 1060 plates were successfully welded. The interfacial microstructure characteristics was characterized using optical microscopy (OM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM). Meanwhile, the Johnson-Holmquist-Ceramics (JH-2) constitutive model was selected as the constitutive model of BMG to verify weldability of explosive welding experimental and reliability of interface structure formation using the Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) method. The experimental results indicated that the Zr-based BMG and Al plates were successfully welded with a slightly wave structure and without visible defects. The numerical simulation results showed that the validity of JH-2 constitutive model for BMG material selection is verified, meanwhile, the weldability of Zr-based BMG and Al was verified, which are in good agreement with experimental results.