Characterization of slugs for self-designed Ti-alloy shaped charge liner after penetrating reinforced concrete and steel target

Abstract Shaped charge liners were sintered from a self-designed β-Ti alloy by powder metallurgy. Although the lightweight β-Ti alloy shows the characteristics of a brittle material, the shaped charge liner forms a Ti-alloy jet, which is capable of penetrating 45# steel and C40 reinforced concrete under the detonation of an 8701 explosive. After penetration, the slugs are characterized by X-ray diffraction and optical micrography. Compared with α’ laths in the slug after penetrating the steel, those are found to be more sparse, shorter, and thicker in the slug after penetrating the C40 concrete, since the slug is extruded less severely. Moreover, the streamline is more remarkable in the slug after penetrating the C40 concrete. It is suggested that the α→β phase transformation occurred due to the adiabatic temperature rise during the penetration, followed by martensite transformation β→α’ due to rapid cooling.