Reaction characteristics of polymer expansive jet impact on explosive reactive armour

In this study, a new damage mode for the explosive reactive armour (ERA) of a shaped charge jet was proposed. The response characteristics of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) and polyamide (PA) polymer jet impact on the ERA were analysed. The expansion degree and the diameter of the PTFE jet are larger than those of the PA jet, but the compactness of the PTFE jet head is lower than that of the PA jet, resulting in different impact pressures of the different polymer expansive jets on the target. The PTFE jet achieved the penetration without initiation of the ERA at different standoffs, while the PA jet directly detonated the sandwich charge when impacting the ERA vertically and failed to penetrate the front plate when impacting the ERA at 68 degrees. With the increase of standoff, the reaction degree of the PTFE jet to the ERA decreased gradually, and the aperture of the front plate did not change.