Transient temperature rise for the penetrating projectile and its effects on high-speed penetration process

Abstract

During penetration, high temperature on the projectile will occur, which may have significant influence on the penetration mechanism and the research is obviously insufficient. Aiming to study the temperature rise effect of the projectile during penetration, this paper firstly measured the transient temperature of a hemi-spherical nosed projectile after penetrating a 5 mm 6061 aluminum target. The experimental results show that the temperature of the projectile can reach 422∼550 °C when the initial velocities of the projectile are 575∼676 m/s. A theoretical model for predicting the transient temperature rise, which varies with time and location on projectile, was established by combining the motion and heat conduction. Both the predicted motion parameters and temperature rise of the projectile show good agreements with the experimental data. Based on the theoretical model, the influence factors of temperature rise in the process of rigid projectile penetration are discussed. Furthermore, the effect of penetration temperature rise on the high-speed penetration mode is clarified. If the strength is strong enough, high temperature rise only acts on a thin layer on the projectile's surface and causes abrasion or even erosion on the projectile, which is the only reason for the change of penetration mode in this situation. The research provides some help for the research of high and even ultra-high speed penetration from the thermodynamics.