Residual Stress Measurements of Explosively Clad Cylindrical Pressure Vessels

Abstract

Tantalum refractory liners were explosively clad into cylindrical pressure vessels, some of which had been previously autofrettaged. Using explosive cladding, the refractory liner formed a metallurgical bond with the steel of the pressure vessel at a cost of induced strain. Two techniques were employed to determine the residual stress state of the clad steel cylinders: neutron diffraction and mechanical slitting. Neutron diffraction is typically nondestructive; however, due to attenuation along the beam path, the cylinders had to be sectioned into rings that were nominally 25 mm thick. Slitting is a destructive method, requiring the sectioning of the cylindrical samples. Both techniques provided triaxial stress data and useful information on the effects of explosive cladding. The stress profiles in the hoop and radial directions were similar for an autofrettaged, nonclad vessel and a clad, nonautofrettaged vessel. The stress profiles in the axial direction appeared to be different. Further, the data suggested that residual stresses from the autofrettage and explosive cladding processes were not additive, in part due to evidence of reverse yielding. The residual stress data are presented, compared and discussed.