Which Parts Of The Tank Can Be Made Of Titanium Alloy
There are many reports on the application of titanium and titanium alloys in tanks in the United States, but few in China, the former Soviet Union and Russia. In the 1990s, the Abrams M1 main battle tank and Bradley M2 battle vehicle of the United States used many titanium alloy parts to replace the rolled Homogeneous Armour (RHA).
It is said that seven major steel components have been replaced by titanium alloy on the M1A2 main battle tank: the turret plate of the rotary gun, the shield plate of the nuclear war, the biological and chemical weapon countermeasure system, the gunner's main sight cover, the engine top cover, the turret pivot frame, the command hatch cover, and the commander's thermal imaging observer cover. The total mass of these components made of steel is 1591kg. After being changed to titanium alloy, the total mass decreases to 1116kg, reducing by nearly 30%.
The command hatch cover and top attack armor of the M2 combat vehicle were originally made of aluminum alloy, and then were made of 100mm-127mm Ti-6Al-4V alloy plate. The attack armor was made of 80mm thick titanium alloy plate, and their weight was 35% lighter than that of steel. Ti-6Al-4V alloy was melted in a low-cost electron beam cold bed furnace, and a low-cost Ti-6Al-1.7Fe-0.1Si Timetal 62S alloy was developed by Titanium Metal Company (Timetal).
In the 1950s, the United States made greater efforts in the application of titanium alloy in the weapons industry, and achieved fruitful results. In order to reduce the quality of armored vehicles and improve their mobility and ballistic resistance, the Watertown Arsenal conducted a large number of tests on the bullet resistance and armor piercing ability of titanium alloy, as well as the welding performance, and considered that titanium alloy is a strong armor material. At the same bulletproof performance, the thickness of titanium alloy armor should be 25% higher than that of steel, while the mass of titanium alloy armor is 25% lighter than that of steel.
In 1953, the US Army tested the top armor of T55 armored vehicle made of 15.88mmRC-130AW titanium alloy plate with 37mm armor piercing projectile at the Detroit Arsenal, and all indicators were qualified, reaching or exceeding the predetermined value. In 1956, the United States forged tank tracks and tank load wheels with Ti-6Al-6V-2Sn-0.5Fe-0.5Cu alloy, which were installed on a 50-ton tank and passed the 3378.9km field test, and they were in good condition.
In 1950, the Watertown Arsenal of the United States used Ti-6Al-4V and Ti-4Al-4V alloys to weld a command tower for the M-21 (XM-13) command vehicle of the tank and vehicle headquarters, and fired live ammunition with 20mm shells. Two kinds of velocities were used for the test launch, one was 450m/s, and it did not penetrate, but there were many small cracks on the back of the plate; The second shooting speed is 504 m/s, which penetrates the titanium plate, but does not penetrate, is stuck in the plate, and the crack does not expand. The test results are satisfactory. The mass of titanium alloy turret is 177kg, while that of steel turret is 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 to manufacture parts such as driving shaft, suspension arm, drag bar, torque shaft, front wheel shaft, etc. The tank with driving shaft of Ti-6Al-4V alloy had a 9654km field test run and was in good condition.
The track system of T109 tank forged with Ti-6Al-4V alloy in the factory includes track shoes, fastening screws, central guide block, side of guide block, chain, etc. The adhesion between titanium alloy track shoes and rubber is better than that with steel, and the mass is about 40% lighter than that of steel parts. After surface treatment, the titanium alloy track shoes have been tested for 1352km in the field on medium tanks, and the expected results have been achieved.
