Experimental investigation on enhanced damage to fuel tanks by reactive projectiles impact

Enhanced damage to the full-filled fuel tank, impacted by the cold pressed and sintered PTFE/Al/W reactive material projectile (RMP) with a density of 7.8 g/cm³, is investigated experimentally and theoretically. The fuel tank is a rectangular structure, welded by six pieces of 2024 aluminum plate with a thickness of 6 mm, and filled with RP-3 aviation kerosene. Experimental results show that the kerosene is ignited by the RMP impact at a velocity above 1062 m/s, and a novel interior ignition phenomenon which is closely related to the rupture effect of the fuel tank is observed. However, the traditional steel projectile with the same mass and dimension requires a velocity up to 1649 m/s to ignite the kerosene. Based on the experimental results, the radial pressure field is considered to be the main reason for the shear failure of weld. For mechanism considerations, the chemical energy released by the RMP enhances the hydrodynamic ram (HRAM) effect and provides additional ignition sources inside the fuel tank, thereby enhancing both rupture and ignition effects. Moreover, to further understand the enhanced ignition effect of RMP, the reactive debris temperature inside the kerosene is analyzed theoretically. The initiated reactive debris with high temperature provides effective interior ignition sources to ignite the kerosene, resulting in the enhanced ignition of the kerosene.