Unique Reactive Material Liners for Shaped Charge Jets against Fortified Structures

This proposal addresses the use of reactive materials in a tandem warhead system to enhance wall-breaching capability for targets of concrete and rock. In the system, a precursor shaped charge jet contains reactive material that conditions the target during the penetration process so that the follow-through warhead can push through the target. To maximize effects, the research develops a process used to select reactive materials and/or establishes requirements upon which advanced reactive materials can be based, including base line materials, mixtures variations, as well as new promising combinations. As a means to utilize reactive armors in shaped charge liners, high-strain-rate and equation-of-state properties of selected reactive materials will be characterized. These descriptions will be incorporated within hydrocodes such as CALE and CTH to examine methods to accelerate liners and form jets using reactive materials and penetration dynamics into targets. Phase I will select reactive material candidates, develop several scale-model shaped charge designs, and establish improvements in target perforation relative to a base-line aluminum liners. Phase II will further improve first order HSR and EOS models, refine the selection and design process, fabricate shaped charge liners at scale model size, test liners using flash x-ray coverage and assess wall-breaching capabilities.