Titanium alloy used in tank part

There are many reports on the use of titanium and titanium alloys in tanks in the United States, but there are few reports on this regard in China, the former Soviet Union, and Russia. In the 1990s, the American Abrams (Abrams) M1 main battle tank and Bradley (Bradley) M2 fighting vehicles used many titanium alloy parts to replace the rolled uniform steel armor parts (Rolled Homogeneous Armour, RHA).

Seven steel components of the M1A2 main battle tank are said to have been replaced with titanium alloy: rotary turret plate, nuclear warfare, biochemical weapons confrontation system guard plate, gunner main aiming cover, engine top cover, turret pivot frame, command cabin cover, and vehicle commander's thermal imaging observation instrument cover. The total mass of these components made of steel is 1,591 k g, and after being changed to titanium alloy, the total mass is reduced to 1,116 k g, with a nearly 30% reduction.

The command hatch and top attack armor of the M2 chariot were originally forged of aluminum alloy, but they were made with 100mm-127mm Ti-6Al-4V alloy plates. The attack armor was made of 80mm thick titanium alloy plates, which is 35% lighter than the steel parts. The Ti-6Al-4V alloy was melted in a low-cost electron-beam cold bed furnace, and it also developed a low-cost Ti-6A-1.7Fe-0.1Si Timetal 62S alloy, which was developed by Titanium Metal Corporation (Timetal).

In the 1950s, the United States of titanium alloy in the weapon industry under the greater effort, fruitful, in order to reduce the quality of armored vehicles, improve its flexibility and elastic resistance, wattown (Watertown) Arsenal for titanium alloy resistance and piercing ability and welding performance for a lot of tests, think titanium alloy is a strong armor material. In the same bulletproof performance, titanium alloy armor thickness should be 25% higher than steel, while titanium alloy armor quality is 25% lighter than steel.

In 1953, the U. S. Army tested the top armor of T55 armored vehicles made with thick 15.88mmRC-130AW titanium plates at the Detroit (Detroit) Arsenal with 37mm armor-piercing bombs, and all the indicators were qualified and reached or exceeded the predetermined value. In 1956, the United States forged tank tracks and tank weight wheels with Ti-6Al-6V-2Sn-0.5Fe-0.5Cu alloy, mounted on a 50-ton tank, passed the 3378.9km field run test, in good condition.

In 1950, the Watertown Arsenal used Ti-6Al-4V and Ti-4Al-4V alloy M-21 (XM-13) command vehicle of the Tank Automotive Command, and fired live fire with 20mm shells. The test took two speeds of 450 m/s, but many small cracks appeared on the back of the plate; the second, shooting at 504 m/s, went through the titanium plate, but not penetrating, stuck in the plate, and the cracks did not expand. The results were satisfactory, with the titanium turret measuring 177kg and 281kg, 104kg or 104 k g, or 37% lighter.

In addition, the Watertown Arsenal also used Ti-6Al-4V alloy and Ti-6Al-4Mn alloy instead of steel manufacturing parts are: active axle, suspension arm, drag rod, torsion axle, front wheel axle, etc., the active axle for Ti-6Al-4V alloy tank for 9654km field test run, in good condition.

The track system of the T109 tank forged with Ti-6Al-4V alloy includes: track plate, fastening screws, central guide block, edge and chain of the guide block, etc. The bonding ratio of titanium alloy crawler board and rubber is better than that of steel, and the quality is about 40% lighter than that of steel parts. The surface-treated titanium crawler board had a 1,352 k m field test run on the medium tank, fully achieving the expected effect.