Effect of heat treatment on bonding interface in explosive welded copper/stainless steel

Highlights: ► The bonding at the copper/stainless steel interface had wavy morphology. ► The thickness of diffusion layer was increased with heat treatment time. ► The maximum hardness was obtained near the welding interface for both sides. ► The tensile strength and elongation were increased by post heat treatment. ► The interface of samples was exhibited ductile and brittle fracture. -- Abstract: In this investigation, explosive welding and heat treatment processes provided an effective method for manufacturing high-strength and high-ductility copper/ austenitic stainless steel couple. In order to improve diffusion in the interface of copper/stainless steel, first the tensile samples were provided from the welded part, then they were subjected to annealing at 300 °C (below recrystallization temperature) for 8–32 h with 8 h intervals and then samples were cooled in the furnace. Optical microscopy (OM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) were utilized to evaluate the possibility of diffusion in the joints. Moreover, in order to measure the hardness of the samples, microhardness test was performed. Microstructural evaluations showed that the stainless steel 304L had a wavy interface. Furthermore, the post heat treatment process resulted in great enhancement of diffusion. Microhardness measurements showed that the hardness of the sample near to the interface is greatly higher than other parts; this is due to plastic deformation and work hardening of copper and stainless steel 304L in these regions. The interface of samples with and without the post heat treatment was exhibited ductile and brittle fracture, respectively.