Damage effects of aluminum plate by reactive material projectile impact

This investigation describes and analyzes the damage effects of 2024-T3 aluminum plates normally impacted by cold isostatically pressed and sintered PTFE/Al/W reactive material projectiles. In the experiments, the reactive material projectiles impacted 3 mm thick aluminum plates at velocities in the range from 289 to 569 m/s and impacted 12 mm thick aluminum plates at velocities in the range from 500 to 956 m/s. The damage patterns and the corresponding penetration-induced deflagration behavior are presented and analyzed. In addition, combining theoretical considerations with experimental results, the effect of impact velocity on the extent of petal bulge and the penetration hole sizes is analyzed. Moreover, by comparing the calculated results with the experimental data, the influences of chemical energy released from the reactive materials during penetration on the extent of petal bulge and the penetration hole sizes are investigated and discussed. As the results show, the damage of aluminum plates by reactive material projectile impact not only varies with the kinetic energy, but is also significantly influenced by the chemical energy released in the penetration process.