Self-sharpening phenomena of tungsten fiber composite material penetratorsduring penetration

Two kinds of the penetrating rods, which were made of tungsten heavy alloy and tungsten-fiber-reinforced Zr-based metallic glass composite material, respectively, were used to penetrate the 30CrMnMo steel target plates in the penetration experiments. In the penetration process, the tungsten heavy alloy rod head formed as a mushroom head and the grains in the head were radially compressed. But in the head of the tungsten-fiber-reinforced Zr-based metallic glass composite rod, the failure along the adiabatic shear bands was observed, which indicated that the tungsten-fiber-reinforced penetrators took on self-sharpening behaviors. A thin edge layer was developed in the tungsten-fiber-reinforced penetrator head and only in this layer the metallic base was broken, the tungsten fibers were ruptured, the temperature increased and the mass was wasted. Evidently, the penetration ability of the tungsten-fiber-reinforced composite material penetrator is evidently greater than that of the tungsten alloy one.