An overview of penetration behavior in magnesium alloys

The combination of alloying and thermo-mechanical processing are used to design advanced magnesium alloys. In this work a comprehensive review of existing ballistic data on magnesium alloys is examined with a focus of connecting how the microstructure is generated during processing, and how it gives a particular ballistic response. Simple analytical descriptions of material response and ballistic response are used in this work to connect microstructure and properties to ballistic performance, which should be accessible to both materials scientists as well as practiced ballisticians. Based on the ballistic data and accompanying analysis of failure behavior, future efforts for improved ballistic performance of magnesium should focus on further development of rare-earth-containing alloys, dilute high strength alloys, and heavily pre-twinned microstructures. © 2021