Experimental Study on Impact Response of W/Zr Reactive Materials with Different Proportions

Using W, Zr and ZrH₂ as raw materials, W/Zr reactive materials with different proportions were prepared by hot-pressing method. The dynamic behavior of W/Zr materials was investigated by a split Hopkinson pressure bar apparatus (SHPB) and the impact-initiated reaction process was recorded. The characteristics of the samples, such as the phase transformation, component and microstructure before and after reaction, were analyzed by X-ray diffraction (XRD), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) and scanning electronic microscopy (SEM). The results show that the W/Zr material sintered by hot-pressing is more compact and the relative density exceeds 87.5%. W/Zr material is a typical brittle material with high strength, the quasi-static compressive strength is higher than 1022MPa and the failure strain is less than 1%. The effect of strain rate on the dynamic compressive strength for all three group samples is obvious, strength increases with strain rate. When the impact load is strong enough, W/Zr material crushes, combusts with air violently, and generates ZrO₂.