Improved Hardness RHA Weldability and Material Property Testing.
Abstract
The M1-PMO, in conjunction with the US Army Research Laboratory (ARL) would like to potentially up-armor the M1 family of vehicles by increasing the hardness of rolled homogeneous armor (RHA) MIL-A-12560 steel. The basic thrust of the program is to utilize lower tempering temperatures and chemist of slightly more hardenability to produce a RHA armor with a Rockwell 'C' hardness of 39-48 without altering the current specification MlL-A-12560 steel. It is believed that the increased hardness levels will provide increased ballistic protection against large caliber kinetic energy threats. Weldability and material property tests were performed on the improved hardness RHA steel supply by the US ARL. The program involves basic material characterization, weldability, machinability and plate cutting studies. The material characterization was performed on two thicknesses (1.25' and 1.50'). The weldability study included Y-groove preheat testing, stud welding and maximum heat input testing. The machinability testing involved machining parts including drilling, tapping, reaming, boring and milling. Plasma and Oxy-fuel thermal cutting were studied to gauge processing of the steel by present armor vehicle fabrication. The ballistic testing was performed by US Combat Systems Test Activity (CSTA) at Aberdeen MD. The results show the candidate steel can processed typical to RHA steel with minor impact to welding and machining.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Dec 01, 1994
- Accession Number
- ADA289127
Entities
People
- Michael L. Foos
Organizations
- General Dynamics