Characterization of the M3 Reactive Material

Major Jason Dalziel, Canadian Army

Abstract: We consider the quasi-static, dynamic, and fragmentation behavior of the M3 reactive material, a mixture of aluminum and zirconium metal powders. M3 is a candidate for use as a robust reactive material liner in penetrators or internal blast warheads. Quasi-static, dynamic, and gun-impact testing was performed to determine the ballistic and fragmentation properties of M3. Experiments demonstrate that M3 shatters at a much higher velocity than similar reactive materials, despite having comparable strength and toughness values. Fracture surfaces show evidence of significant shear failure during impact that is not seen in other reactives. We show that the impact fragmentation behavior of M3 is consistent with a previously developed bimodal distribution model. This model estimates large fragments from a Grady-type energy balance model and predicts that small fragments arise from microbranching or friction. Hopkinson bar data is fit to an extended Johnson-Cook model which adequately captures rate-dependent strength. The Hugoniot and shock-induced temperature profile were estimated using a mixture-rule Mie-Grüneisen equation of state and applying a correction for the porosity.

Point of Contact:

jphooper@nps.edu

Added:

Jan 07, 2018

Download Video
Video Tags Assigned:
Related Assets
Asset Publisher