There are many reports on the application of titanium and titanium alloys in tanks in the United States, but there are few reports on this aspect in China, the former Soviet Union, and Russia. In the 1990s, the Abrams M1 main battle tank and Bradley M2 fighting vehicle in the United States used many titanium alloy parts to replace Rolled Homogeneous Armour (RHA).
Titanium alloy is said to have replaced seven steel components on the M1A2 main battle tank: the rotating turret plate, the nuclear warfare, biochemical warfare system shield, the gunner's main sight cover, the engine canopy, the turret pivot, the command canopy, and the commander's thermal imaging viewer cover. The total mass of these components made of steel was 1591kg, and after changing to titanium alloy, the total mass was reduced to 1116kg, a reduction of nearly 30%.
The command hatch and top attack armor of the M2 tank were forged from aluminum alloy, but were later made of 100mm-127mm Ti-6Al-4V alloy plates, and the attack armor was made of 80mm thick titanium alloy plates, which are 35% lighter than steel parts. The Ti-6Al-4V alloy is smelted in a low-cost electron beam cold bed furnace, and a low-cost Ti-6A-1.7Fe-0.1Si Timetal 62S alloy has also been developed, which is developed by Titanium Metal Corporation (Timetal).
In the 1950s, the United States made greater efforts on the application of titanium alloy in the ordnance industry, and achieved fruitful results. In order to reduce the quality of armored vehicles, improve their mobility flexibility and resistance to bullets, Watertown Arsenal carried out a large number of tests on the resistance of titanium alloy bullets and armor piercing bullets and welding performance. Titanium alloy is considered to be a strong armor material. At the same bulletproof performance, the thickness of titanium alloy armor should be 25% higher than that of steel, and the weight of titanium alloy armor is 25% lighter than that of steel.
In 1953, the United States Army tested the top armor of the T55 armored vehicle made of 15.88mmRC-130AW titanium alloy plate at the Detroit Arsenal with 37mm armor piercing shells, and the indicators were qualified, reaching or exceeding the predetermined value. In 1956, the United States forged tank tracks and tank roadwheels with Ti-6Al-6V-2Sn-0.5Fe-0.5Cu alloy, and passed the 3,378.9 km field running test on a 50-ton tank, in good condition.
In 1950, the United States Watertown Arsenal welded a control tower of Ti-6Al-4V and Ti-4Al-4V alloys for the M-21 (XM-13) command vehicle of the Tank and Automobile Command Command, and used 20mm shells for live firing. The test used two speeds, one at 450m/s, did not shoot through, but there were many small cracks on the back of the board; The second shot, with a speed of 504m/s, penetrated the titanium plate, but did not penetrate, stuck in the plate, and the crack did not expand. The test results are satisfactory, titanium turret mass 177kg, and steel turret 281kg, the former is 104kg lighter than the latter, that is, 37% lighter.
In addition, Watertown Arsenal also used Ti-6Al-4V alloy and Ti-6Al-4Mn alloy instead of steel parts: drive shaft, suspension arm, tow rod, torque shaft, front wheel shaft, etc. The tank with Ti-6Al-4V alloy drive shaft has carried out 9,654 km field test run, and is in good condition.
The track system of T109 tank forged with Ti-6Al-4V alloy in this factory is: track plate, fastening screw, center guide block, guide block edge, chain and so on. The adhesive property of titanium alloy track plate with rubber is better than that of steel and the mass is about 40% lighter than that of steel. The titanium alloy track plate after surface treatment has been tested on the medium tank for 1352km in the field, and the expected results have been achieved.
Amanda
Company: Baoji Dynamic Trading Co., Ltd
Country:China
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