Enhanced damage effect on ceramic/metal composite plate by reactive projectile

A ballistic experiment was performed to investigate the enhanced damage effect on the ceramic/metal composite plate by the reactive projectile. Steel-density reactive projectiles were fabricated from polytetrafluoroethylene/Al/W (PTFE/Al/W) powders by mixing, pressing, and vacuum sintering. The ceramic/metal composite plate was composed of a 10 mm alumina (Al₂O₃) ceramic front plate bonded to a 2 mm 2024-aluminum back plate using a modified acrylate adhesive. High-speed imaging and 3D scanning were used to characterize both the projectile's deflagration behavior and the damage features of the ceramic/metal composite plate. To resolve the coupled penetration–reaction process, an adaptive finite element-smoothed particle hydrodynamics (FEM-SPH) model was developed. Simulation based on the model revealed four primary stages during reactive projectile's penetration process and described the enhanced damage effect. Additionally, the enhanced damage of ceramic cones was analyzed through the comparison with that by the inert projectile. Finally, the mechanism of the enhanced damage effect was further revealed through energy evolution analysis. The analysis results show that the rapid fragmentation and deflagration of the reactive projectile changes the evolution process of the ceramic cone, forming a completely different damage mode compared with the inert projectile. Under identical impact conditions, the reactive projectile produces markedly greater damage with damage metrics increasing by up to 27.33%. The damage enhancement mechanism demonstrates distinct two-stage characteristics of interfering with the formation of ceramic cones followed by the substantial release of chemical energy in the damaged ceramic cone region.