The Metallurgical and Ballistic Characterization of Quarter-Scale Tungsten Alloy Penetrators

Abstract

The microstructure, mechanical and physical properties, and ballistic performance of two lots of newly manufactured tungsten heavy alloy penetrators were evaluated. The microstructure and the measured properties met the purchase requirements and closely matched the properties of previously purchased material of similar composition. Ballistic testing revealed no noticeable effect on the depth of penetration of a semi-infinite, monolithic block of rolled homogeneous armor (RHA). In fact, all of the tungsten alloy materials that were tested performed in a linear manner over the velocity range tested with only a slight advantage observed for the Kennametal W-2 alloy due to its greater density. It was concluded that the material purchased would be adequately serve the ballistic testing and armor development programs, and the mechanical properties were not significant in the depth of the penetration test.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
May 01, 1990
Accession Number
ADA223998

Entities

People

  • Frank S. Hodi
  • Kenneth J. Tauer
  • Patrick Woolsey
  • Robert J. Dowding

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Space
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Force
  • Aspect Ratio
  • Chemical Analysis
  • Chemistry
  • Engineering
  • Geometry
  • Grain Size
  • Information Processing
  • Materials
  • Materials Engineering
  • Materials Science
  • Mechanical Properties
  • Military Research
  • Projectiles
  • Rolled Homogeneous Armor
  • Specifications
  • Tungsten Alloys

Fields of Study

  • Materials science

Readers

  • Explosive Engineering.
  • Metallurgy
  • Software Engineering