Deformation and Thermal Processes That Occur during the High-Speed Collapse of a Bulky Copper Cylindrical Shell

Abstract

A bulky copper cylindrical shell with an internal diameter of 118 mm and a wall thickness of 5.9 mm has been exposed to an explosion of a cylindrical explosive charge uniformly distributed around it. A cylinder with a diameter of 57–58 mm has been obtained as a result of high-speed deformation caused by the explosion. A metallographic analysis of the cylinder structure shows that the shell collapses under the influence of axially symmetric radial deformation, which is accomplished by both twinning and sliding mechanisms. It is determined that axial deformation occurs along with the radial deformation. The microstructure of the cross-section consists of three zones. A wide annular deformation zone is formed on the outside, an annular recrystallization zone is formed closer to the center, and a circular region with a dendritic structure is formed at the center. The presence of dendrites indicates that the temperature at the boundary of this region reaches the melting point of copper. The temperature change along the radius of the cylinder has been calculated.