Material Bonding For Lethal Air-to-Air Warheads

The objective of this proposal is to demonstrate a well characterized, production-friendly, bonding technique with predictable and measurable bond quality for joining zirconium to tantalum for use in lethal air-to-air warheads. Lethal warheads or kinetic energy penetrators for land-based and air-based use have been successfully implemented in military applications for almost two decades and are largely based on depleted uranium (DU). There is however controversy regarding the use of DU-based penetrators, and therefore other high density materials combinations such as tungsten and tantalum are actively being developed as substitutes. However, to enhance lethality it is desirable to combine high density with pyrophoricity, hence the desire to bond material combinations such as tantalum and zirconium. This present work proposes a novel approach to bond rods or other cylindrically-symmetric components of zirconium and tantalum based on the systematic use of inertia friction welding (IFRW), unique bond interlayer concepts, and a proven on-machine quality assurance strategy to ensure metallurgical bond integrity based on real-time manufacturing data. It is felt that is proposed approach, if successfully demonstrated, will result in a cost-effective, production friendly process that directly unambiguously characterizes bond quality and its dependence on weld parameters.