Dynamic behavior of titanium matrix composites under hypervelocity impact

Based on experimental results, numerical simulations were performed to study the hypervelocity impact of aluminum balls against aluminum targets, verifying the reliability of the numerical model. Hypervelocity impact simulations under three different velocities of 5.52, 7.00 and 8.00 km/s against aluminum target and titanium matrix composite target with the same mass of the aluminum target were simulated. The process of aluminum balls with a diameter of 5.02 mm and titanium matrix composite balls with the same mass of the aluminum balls impacting aluminum shields and titanium matrix composite shields were analyzed by using a dynamic analysis program under the above three velocities, respectively. It can be found that the protective effect of the titanium matrix composite shields is more efficient than that of the aluminum shields when increasing the impact velocities. When the velocity is constant, the protective effect of titanium matrix composite shield against titanium matrix composite ball is good and the protective effect of aluminum shield against aluminum ball is good. With a theoretical analysis on impact process, it can be concluded that protective effect of the titanium matrix composite shields is more efficient than that of the aluminum shields.