dinary configurations, including very large-sized or small-scale ones are among such products.

3.A possibility to produce a complex part or a structure as a unit, instead of separate parts welded together.

4.Providing of high-quality product surface since the stamp is not necessary there.

5.The avoidance of the product manual treatment or other secondary operations.

6.Maintening close tolerances in large parts.

7.Elimination of intermediate heat treatment necessary at mechanical stamping as a result of more complete use of possibilities of metal ductiluty.

8.Uniform distribution of explosive pressures on all the billet area, that excludes the stress concentration which the specialist faces when using mechanical methods of treatment.

At any analysis of the positive and negative sides of the explosive metal treatment it is necessary to take into account, that there are two substantially different directions of explosive technologies. So-called remote operations, which are often united in the literature by a common term «explosive forming* are related to the first one. This field was not considered in the book, though its importance and efficiency in the aviation and rocket industry had been already convincingly proved. The second direction covers mainly contact operations and, despite of its sufficiently wide mastering, should be still considered in essence as a promising field of the scientific and technical search. Most of such operations demand the thorough examining and ascertaining of their practical applicability.

In solving the question of using the operation of explosive treatment one should mainly proceed from two arguments: 1) explosive treatment may appear the only realizable method of carrying out the operation and 2) when there is a choice, it can appear more economical.

When defining a possibility of using the explosive technologies the safety of operators and workers participating in the operation should be the main care. Besides, at a modern state of knowledge the absolute need of serious applied researches is felt in such fields, as dynamics of intensive short-term processes, metallurgical and mechanical properties of materials in a phase of treatment and after it, clearing up a relative role, which each element of the system plays in the operation as a whole, and possible interaction between these elements. Availability of such data will lay the basis for optimum designing the technological process as a whole and its separate elements.

Another part of requirements, which becomes urgent, concerns properties of explosives, improving the methods of handling them and accelerating development of modern means of charges priming. For example, there is a necessity of broadening the spectrum of the explosive properties. It is necessary to build the bridge between strong and feeble explosive to expand a variety of operations by more flexible regulation of pressure and duration of the explosive action. In this connection there is a question on creation of explosives specially destined for operations of explosive metal treatment.

How development of technologies of explosive metal treatment will go in the future depends on success in searching necessities in other branches of engineering and development of new processes, i.e. on distribution of the technology of explosive treatment in new fields and new processes. Progress in this field depends on interest to it on the part of the industrial enterprises and on the scale of those efforts, which will be made for examining and introducing these new progressive technologies.