W60(FeCrNi2.5) Alloy with High Strength and High Adiabatic Shear Band Sensitivity

To meet the high-performance requirement of tungsten heavy alloys in kinetic energy penetrators under extreme dynamic loading conditions, high strength and high adiabatic shear band (ASB) sensitivity are essential. The formation and evolution of ASB during the penetration process directly dominate penetration capability of tungsten heavy alloys (WHAs). However, traditional WHA (93W) exhibits relatively low strength and adiabatic shear band insensitivity, which limits its applications in advanced kinetic energy penetrators. This study prepared W60(FeCrNi2.5) alloy by means of spark plasma sintering with 1~3 μm powders. The sintered alloy exhibits outstanding mechanical properties at quasi-static (0.001 s-1) and dynamic (4000 s-1) strain rates. Its yield strengths reach 1.5 GPa and 2.7 GPa respectively, manifesting a notable strain rate strengthening behavior. Dynamic compression tests indicate that the alloy generates ASB with a width of ~8 μm. Within the ASB, the body-centered cubic (BCC) phase is elongated to nanofibers under shear stress, and fine W particles are generated as a result of grain debonding in nanofibers. Meanwhile, the grains of the face-centered cubic (FCC) phase are disintegrated into subgrains due to dislocation pile-ups at subgrain boundaries, and new equiaxed grains are formed through subgrain boundaries rotation. The calculated adiabatic temperature elevation inside the ASB of this alloy reaches a maximum of 1315 K under 4000 s-1. Notably, its ASB sensitivity coefficient reaches 20.8, while that of the 93W alloy is 1.02. Thus, it achieves a favorable combination of high strength and high adiabatic shear band sensitivity, which offers meaningful references for advanced kinetic energy penetrator materials.