Abstract This paper assesses the effect of various values of detonation velocity on the quality of the bond zone, and thus the properties of bimetal zirconium (Zr 700) - steel (P355NL). The research was carried out for as-bonded welds, i.e. immediately following explosion welding. The results of shearing, peeling and tensile tests as well as macro-scale structural analyses were presented. In order to determine the changes in the value of strain hardening, the microhardness measurements across the interface were carried out. Based on the performed analyses it can be claimed that, depending on the applied technological settings of welding, most cases displayed wavy bond with highly diversified parameters of the wave. The changes observed with the detonation velocity are non-monotonic. High detonation velocities favored the formation of waves with large height and length and strongly affect the increase of the volume of brittle melted zones. Increased volume of the melted regions results in strong decrease of strength properties of the clad. The analysis of strength test results allows claiming that a small volume of melted regions in the bond considerably improves the strength of the bond.As a result of explosion welding, strain hardening of the joined materials occurs near the interface. In the case of clad fabricated using high technological parameters the increase of strengthening and the depth of its influence in the interface area is observed.

In this paper, the microstructural and texture changes in polycrystalline CuZn30 alloy, copper, and AA1050 aluminium alloy have been studied to describe the crystal lattice rotation during shear bands formation. The hat-shaped specimens were deformed using a drop-hammer at the strain rate of 560 s ^–1. Microstructure evolution was investigated using optical microscopy, whereas texture changes were examined with the use of a scanning electron microscope equipped with the EBSD facility. The microstructural observations were correlated with nanohardness measurements to evaluate the mechanical properties of the sheared regions. The analyses demonstrate the gradual nature of the shear banding process, which can be described as a mechanism of the bands nucleation and then successive growth rather than as an abrupt instability. It was found that regardless of the initial orientation of the grains inside the sheared region, a well-defined tendency of the crystal lattice rotation is observed. This rotation mechanism leads to the formation of specific texture components of the sheared region, different from the one observed in a weakly or non-deformed matrix. During the process of rotation, one of the {111} planes in each grain of the sheared region ‘tends’ to overlap with the plane of maximum shear stresses and one of the <110> or <112> directions align with the shear direction. This allows slip propagation through the boundaries between adjacent grains without apparent change in the shear direction. Finally, in order to trace the rotation path, transforming the matrix texture components into shear band, rotation axis and angles were identified.