Hafnium- and titanium-coated tungsten powders for kinetic energy penetrators, Phase I, SBIR. Final report

Technical Report · Fri May 01 04:00:00 EDT 1992

OSTI ID:6902271

Williams, B E; Stiglich, J J

Depleted uranium (DU) is the state-of-the-art material for kinetic energy penetrators used to defeat steel and composite armors. DU alloys, however, are costly to fabricate, handle, and store because of their extremely complex metallurgy and the obvious health considerations associated with the use of uranium. Tungsten composite materials are also used in kinetic energy penetrators, offering easier and safer fabrication, handling, and storage but to date lacking the performance of DU. The mechanisms by which a penetrator defeats an armor are difficult to determine, either experimentally or from first principles. Recent experiments have identified the presence of an adiabatic shear mechanism that appears to be important in the penetration of rolled homogeneous armor (RHA) by DU penetrators. In this program, Ultramet proposed to apply hafnium and titanium coatings to tungsten powder (Wp) particles by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) using an established fluidized-bed powder coating technique. Both hafnium and titanium are known to exhibit the adiabatic shear phenomenon. High strain rate experiments (approx.10 to the 4th power/sec) were performed on Ti(6A1-4V) and hafnium materials in order to establish the presence or absence of this mode of deformation in small cylindrical specimens. In addition, specimens of 2 wt% CVD Hf/Wp and 2 wt% CVD Hf + 8 wt% powder-mixed Hf/Wp were tested at high strain rate conditions (approx. 10 to the 4th power/sec). Tungsten powders, Composites, Chemical Vapor Deposition(CVD), Microstructure, Hafnium, Titanium, Dynamic tests, Strain rate testing, Powder metallurgy.

• Research Organization: Ultramet, Pacoima, CA (United States)
• OSTI ID: 6902271
• Report Number(s): AD-A-256077/9/XAB; ULT/TR--91-7670; CNN: DAAL04-91-C-0022
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
360101* -- Metals & Alloys-- Preparation & Fabrication
360102 -- Metals & Alloys-- Structure & Phase Studies
360103 -- Metals & Alloys-- Mechanical Properties
360104 -- Metals & Alloys-- Physical Properties
ACTINIDES
ALLOYS
AMMUNITION
ANNEALING
ARMOR
CHEMICAL COATING
CHEMICAL VAPOR DEPOSITION
COMPOSITE MATERIALS
CRYSTAL STRUCTURE
DEFORMATION
DEPLETED URANIUM
DEPOSITION
ELEMENTS
ENERGY
FABRICATION
HAFNIUM
HEAT TREATMENTS
KINETIC ENERGY
MATERIAL SUBSTITUTION
MATERIALS
MATRIX MATERIALS
METALLURGY
METALS
MICROSTRUCTURE
PARTICLES
PENETRATORS
PERFORMANCE
POWDER METALLURGY
SHEAR
STORAGE
STRAIN RATE
SURFACE COATING
TITANIUM
TRANSITION ELEMENTS
TUNGSTEN
URANIUM