Investigation on melting and composition gradient of W-Cu shaped charge jet during jet formation and penetration

Explosive experiments of W-Cu shaped charge liner were conducted, and the composition gradient of W-Cu shaped charge jet during jet formation and penetration were systematically investigated. Results show that during the jet formation process, the W-Cu jet maintains a good compositional homogeneity and has no compositional gradient, and neither Cu phase nor W particles of W-Cu jet melts. However, during the jet penetration process, there is a large adiabatic temperature rise in the impact area of W-Cu jet under the ultra-high pressure, which causes the melting of part of the Cu phase and part of the W particles. When the W-Cu jet impacts the target, the Cu phase melts first under high temperature. The melted Cu then flows around and forms a Cu-rich layer between the jet and target. This helps to reduce the diameter of the penetration hole. Solid W particles with high energy make a major contribution to penetration depth.