Numerical study on damage effects of segmented reactive-core penetrator impacting double-layer steel targets

Abstract

Reactive penetrator has stronger damage effects due to the combination of penetration and blasting. In this paper, numerical simulations are carried on by LS-DYNA to understand the penetration mechanism of a new type of segmented reactive-core penetrator. The primary core and secondary core are made of W/Zr reactive alloy and PTFE/Al reactive composite respectively, which are coated by a steel shell. Different from the Penetrator with Enhance Lateral Effect (PELE), the penetrator in this investigation performs a “self-sharpening” behaviour due to its high-density primary core and prefabricated groove. It is shown that the impact velocity of the penetrator has an influence on the fragmentation of targets, and there is a good balance between penetration ability and chemical reaction.