Dynamic characterization of tungsten carbide behaviour at very high strain-rates

Abstract

Cemented tungsten carbide, with its very high density and high strength, is known to be the material composing several small calibre armour piercing ammunitions. The impact of a tungsten carbide core projectile onto a high efficiency armour often leads to the fracture of the tungsten carbide core. Thus, the pertinence of material models used in numerical simulations to describe the behaviour and the damage of the target is not sufficient to well predict a ballistic impact. In this work, the GEPI high-pulsed power generator is used to conduct dynamic characterization of the behaviour of a cemented tungsten carbide under both compressive and tensile loadings. The Hugoniot Elastic Limit of this material has been identified (HEL = 5.8 GPa). Moreover, Lagrangian analysis allowed the complete loading path to be identified up to 18 GPa.