In this study, the 304L/533B CL.1 clad plate is successfully fabricated by explosive welding. An in‐depth analysis is conducted on the wavy interface microstructure and the mechanical properties, both along and perpendicular to the detonation direction. The wave‐shaped interface affected zone (WIAZ) is first proposed, which consists of the wave‐shaped interface zone, the strong interface affected zone, and the weak interface affected zone. Regulating behaviors of explosive‐bonded wavy interface on tensile performances are evaluated by using different tensile specimen thicknesses from 4 to 16 mm, while maintaining a uniform thickness ratio of 1 between the 304L and 533B layer. Interestingly, tensile properties of specimens with different thicknesses exhibit three distinct characteristics. The observed differences in tensile performance are attributed to the combined effects of interface bonding strength, multilevel structure in WIAZ and thickness of normal zone. The strain partitioning and stress redistribution in the 304L and 533B layer is constructed under uniaxial tensile loading. Specifically, strain partitioning, enhancement of work hardening and hetero‐deformation induced (HDI) hardening play important roles in strengthening and toughening the 304L/533B clad plate. The present work provides a new framework for understanding and classifying the complex microstructural evolution occurring far beyond the immediate melted layer in explosive welding.
Li et al. (Sat,) studied this question.