Tungsten-uranium penetrator target interaction
Several studies performed in recent years have been directed at determining the penetration mechanism of long rod kinetic energy penetrators into Rolled Homogeneous Armor (RHA). Much of the work has centered on comparing U-0.75Ti and Tungsten Heavy Alloys (WHA), with the goal being to relate the superior ballistic performance of the uranium materials to a fundamental difference in penetration mechanisms. This has been found to be true, with the dominant mechanisms being adiabatic shear in U-0.75Ti and bulk deformation in WHA. Recent work has sought to achieve improvements in the ballistic performance of the tungsten materials via both mechanical property improvements and alloy modifications designed to bring about adiabatic shear. As an alternative, the authors propose the consideration of materials which utilize mechanisms other than bulk deformation and adiabatic shear to optimize ballistic performance. This paper will present the postmortem analysis of a uranium-20 vol% tungsten composite penetrator fired into RHA at 0{degrees} obliquity. The analysis shows that the penetration mechanism in this material is bulk heating and extensive co-melting of the target and penetrator at the penetration interface. The results of the analysis will then be compared to a similar analysis made of targets into which U-0.75Ti penetrators had been fired.
- Research Organization:
- Los Alamos National Lab., NM (United States); Sandia National Labs., Albuquerque, NM (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- W-7405-ENG-36; AC04-94AL85000
- OSTI ID:
- 10187146
- Report Number(s):
- LA-UR-94-3284; CONF-9410213-1; ON: DE95000847; TRN: 94:009250
- Journal Information:
- Princeton, N.J. : The Federation, ©1995, Book : Conference publication : EnglishView all editions and formats, Conference: Tungsten and refractory metals, 1994 : proceedings of the Second International Conference on Tungsten and Refractory Metals, McLean, VA (United States),17-19 Oct 1994; Other Information: PBD: [1994]; Related Information: Figures from report are missing: Message from LANL 1/13/15: We do not have access to a report with the figures. figures started out as macrographs - that may not have been captured by the microfilming process. The requester could try to locate the proceedings - figures may be in this volume (we don’t have this in print.) I don’t think we should remove it from OSTI's database.
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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