Effect of processing route on ballistic performance of Ti-6Al-4V armour plate

Titanium alloys are a key part of an armour designer’s toolset due to their high ballistic mass efficiency. However, titanium’s high cost has restricted its use in military land-based vehicles. In this study, the effect of different processing routes on the microstructure, texture, ballistic performance V50 and deformation modes of Ti-6Al-4V armour plate is investigated. Plates were fabricated via conventional hot rolling and the powder metallurgy techniques of HIP and FAST. The plate failure modes varied significantly with the microstructure while the formation of adiabatic shear bands seems to be influenced by crystallographic texture. The rolled plate exhibited the best performance due to a strong transverse-type texture perpendicular to the projectile direction.