Metallic reactive materials application in fragmentation warhead

Abstract

The composition, structure, manufacturing process and properties of Metallic reactive materials are introduced. The typical ternary mixture of Ni-Al-W have high density of 7.37g/cm3 and static tensile strength of 228MPa, which make the reactive fragments gain high penetration capability to perforate the target&s skin and can survive under explosive. The Ni-Al-W fragments undergo intermetallic reaction and oxidation reaction upon impacting. The energy release characteristics of Ni-Al-W reactive material were analysed. The chemical energy and pressure generated by reaction of the reactive material have a linear relationship with the impact velocity. A warhead prototype of Ni-Al-W fragment warhead was designed and the warhead explosion testing was carried out. The results show that the Ni-Al-W fragments are capable of withstanding to explosive loading with acquiring initial velocity of 2256m/s. The Ni-Al-W fragments also have advantage of perforation in area against the bi-layered space plates. The metallic reactive fragment warhead can increase the lethality of fragmentation warheads against aircrafts and phased array antenna, which increasingly get mature and have a wide application prospect.