Study on Titanium Alloy TC4 Ballistic Penetration Resistance Part I: Ballistic Impact Tests

Ballistic impact test of different-scale casings is an efficient way to demonstrate the casing containment capability at the preliminary design stage of the engine. For the sake of studying the titanium alloy TC4 casing performance, the ballistic tests of flat and curved simulation casing are implemented by using two flat blades of different sizes as the projectile. The impact mechanism and failure of the target are discussed. Impact of the projectile is a highly nonlinear transient process with the large deformation of the target. On the impact, failures of the flat casing and the subscale casing are similar, concluding two parts, the global dishing and localized ductile tearing. The main localized failure mode combines plugging (shear) and petaling (shear) if the projectile perforates or penetrates, while crater (shear) if the projectile rebounds. The ballistic limit equation is verified by the test data and the results show that this empirical equation could be a practical way to estimate the critical velocity.