Study on damage of reactive fragment impacting partially-filled fuel tank

The damage effect of PTFE/Al/W reactive fragment impacting partially-filled fuel tank is investigated by combining the ballistic gun experiment and theoretical analysis. The experimental results show that, with the impact velocity ranging from 806m/s to 1331m/s, the reactive fragments successfully perforate the front plate of fuel tank and cause the flash-ignition of fuel/air mixture, but the fuel tank does not fail obviously. Based on the experimental results, a temperature analysis model of reactive debris is developed by combining the energy release characteristic of reactive material and the convective heat transfer model. The model result shows that the high-temperature reactive debris can effectively ignite fuel/air mixture, which is in good agreement with the experimental results.