Penetration Failure Mechanism of Multi-Diameter Tungsten Fiber Reinforced Zr-Based Bulk Metallic Glasses Matrix Composite Rod

In order to increase the penetration ability of tungsten fiber-reinforced Zr-based bulk metallic glasses matrix composite rod, two multi-diameter tungsten fiber-reinforced Zr-based bulk metallic glasses matrix composites (MD-WF/Zr-MG) are designed. In MD-WF/Zr-MG-I, the diameters of tungsten fiber (WF) increase gradually from the inside to outside, which is the opposite in MD-WF/Zr-MG-II. Penetration experiment of two kinds of MD-WF/Zr-MG rods into rolled homogeneous armor (RHA) steel target from 1470 m/s to 1630 m/s is conducted. The average penetration depth of the MD-WF/Zr-MG-II rod is higher than that of the MD-WF/Zr-MG-I rod. Penetration failure modes of MD-WF/Zr-MG-I and MD-WF/Zr-MG-II rods are bending, backflow of WFs and shear failure respectively. The failure mode of MD-WF/Zr-MG is affected by the bend spaces and the ultimate bending diameters of WFs. If the bend spaces of all WFs are equal or larger than their ultimate bending diameters, the penetration failure mode is the bending and backflow of WFs, oppositely the penetration failure mode is the shear failure. The MD-WF/Zr-MG rod with shear failure exhibits high penetration ability because of low penetration resistance and little residual material in the crater. When designing MD-WF/Zr-MG, bend spaces of a part of WFs should be smaller than their ultimate bending diameter to cause shear failure.