Damage Behavior and Mechanism of Tungsten-zirconium Energetic Fragments Penetrating CFRP Targets

WANG Luyao; LI Mei; ZHOU Xin; MEN Jianbing; WANG Zhe

doi:10.19554/j.cnki.1001-3563.2026.09.003

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Packaging Engineering ›› 2026, Vol. 47 ›› Issue (9) : 23-33. DOI: 10.19554/j.cnki.1001-3563.2026.09.003

Special Topic on Ammunition Response and Protection Technology under Intensive Dynamic Loading

Damage Behavior and Mechanism of Tungsten-zirconium Energetic Fragments Penetrating CFRP Targets

WANG Luyao¹, LI Mei^2,*, ZHOU Xin², MEN Jianbing², WANG Zhe¹

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Abstract

Aiming at the insufficient damage effectiveness of traditional inert fragments against unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) characterized by being "light, small, numerous, and agile", the work aims to investigate the penetration mechanism and post-penetration damage capability of tungsten-zirconium (W-Zr) energetic fragments, which combine kinetic and chemical energy damage modes, against carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) UAV skins, through an experimental and simulation-based approach. In the experiments, soap or aluminum witness plates were placed 120 mm behind the CFRP target to capture fragment clouds and evaluate secondary damage, and record the penetration process and cloud evolution by high-speed photography. The experimental data validated the LS-DYNA simulation model, enabling systematic analysis of the influence of CFRP target thickness, impact velocity, and fiber ply orientation on damage effects. Resultsshowed good agreement between tests and simulations, with relative errors of 7.32% for hole diameter and 2.64% for residual velocity. The perforation morphology, delamination features, and composition of the behind-target fragment cloud were clarified. It was demonstrated that the fragment cloud could release chemical energy upon impacting the aluminum witness plate, enhancing damage. A three-stage failure mode ("shear-compression coupled continuous erosion-mixed shear-tension failure-tensile failure") was identified, and the morphological evolution of the fragment cloud was summarized. The study revealed that although W-Zr energetic fragments remained in a quasi-inert "piercing without activation" state during CFRP penetration, the resulting fragment cloud retained significant potential for chemical energy release. In conclusion, W-Zr energetic fragments achieve combined "kinetic penetration -chemical energy post-effect enhancement" damage against CFRP and behind-target structures, primarily enabled by the "energetic fragment cloud" formed behind the target. This research provides theoretical and experimental support for developing new efficient damage approaches against internal UAV structures using energetic fragments.

Key words

tungsten-zirconium energetic fragment / CFRP target / damage effect / numerical simulation

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WANG Luyao, LI Mei, ZHOU Xin, MEN Jianbing, WANG Zhe. Damage Behavior and Mechanism of Tungsten-zirconium Energetic Fragments Penetrating CFRP Targets[J]. Packaging Engineering. 2026, 47(9): 23-33 https://doi.org/10.19554/j.cnki.1001-3563.2026.09.003

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