Explosive Welding: Clad Metal Reimagined for Better Results

It is known that metals are the basis of powering and sustaining our modern, industrial world in countless applications. What may be lesser known is today’s clad metals solve some of the most complex material design and processing challenges. 

NobelClad offers the largest collection of clad metal products and solutions anywhere in the world, and central to our success is explosive welding—a metal forming technology we initiated in the years following World War I. 

What is explosive welding and why does it matter? 

We first used explosive welding to form blank sheets of metal alloys into complex, three-dimensional parts for aerospace equipment manufacturers. Today, we maintain the world standard for explosive welding and most often use it to clad steel with a thin layer of corrosion-resistant alloy metals to form plate and transition joint applications.  

DetaClad™, our explosive welding technique, is a solid-state, cold-welding process. By detonating high-energy explosives, we drive incompatible metals together, creating a strong metallurgical bond; a bond that retains the mechanical, electrical and corrosion properties of each metal.  

Fundamental to complex engineering and manufacturing applications, explosive welding reliably clads both compatible and non-compatible metal combinations. Common applications clad steel with alloy metals, such as stainless steel, brass, nickel, silver, titanium or zirconium; distinct metal combinations not available to engineers through conventional welding methods. 

From cost-effective corrosion resistance and temperature uniformity to reduced weight, explosion welded products offer solutions across many industries. DetaClad™ plates deliver high bond strength and cost-effective fabrication for both corrosive environments and challenging structural designs. Common explosive welding applications by industry include:  

• Flat plates and cylinders for the chemical & petrochemical industries, which depend on explosion-welded metals to contain corrosive materials in the production of PTA, acetic acid and chlorate. 
• Flat plates and cylinders for the oil and gas production and refining, which relies on corrosion-resistant alloys to safely contain oil, gas and related production fluids. 
• Flat plates and cylinders for the aerospace, rail, automotive and construction industries, which trust the flexibility of explosion-bonded clad, welded steel and aluminum, to achieve lightweight designs without forgoing strength and reliability.  

Explosive-welded transition joints are composite inserts that make it possible to permanently join distinct metals in structural, electrical and cryogenic products. Common applications by industry include:

• Structural transition joints for transportation and marine industries, which depend on explosive welding to permanently join distinct metals without mechanical fasteners. 
• Electrical transition joints for zinc or aluminum smelting, which use electrical connections between the distinct metals to keep operating costs down and improve cell performance.

NobelClad: The global leader in Explosive Welding

Explosive welding helped to make progress in our early work. Today, we are global leaders, using several well-established welding technologies and offering the largest collection of clad metal products anywhere in the world. 

By re-thinking numerous applications for modern industry, like transportation—and building out new technical, marketing and sales capabilities—we are a trusted, composite metal solutions expert.