REACTIVE MATERIAL ENHANCED PROJECTILES AND RELATED METHODS

• US 20080035007A1
• Filed: 10/04/2006
• Published: 02/14/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 10/04/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Northrop Grumman Systems Corporation (Northrop Grumman Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Alliant Techsystems Incorporated (Northrop Grumman Corporation)
• Inventors: Truitt, Richard, Ashcroft, Benjamin, Nielson, Daniel
• Granted Patent: US 8,122,833 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 102/517
• CPC Class Codes: C06B 45/00 Compositions or products which are defined by structure or arrangement of component of product explosive charges of particular form or shape F42B1/00, F42B3/00
• CPC Class Codes: C06B 45/12 having contiguous layers or zones
• CPC Class Codes: F42B 12/06 with hard or heavy core; Kinetic energy penetrators F42B12/16, F42B12/74 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: F42B 12/204 for attacking structures, e.g. specific buildings or fortifications, ships or vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: F42B 12/36 for dispensing materials; for producing chemical or physical reaction; for signalling ; for transmitting information
• CPC Class Codes: F42B 12/44 of incendiary type F42B12/46 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: F42B 12/74 of the core or solid body
• CPC Class Codes: F42B 33/00 Manufacture of ammunition; Dismantling of ammunition; Apparatus therefor F42B5/188 takes precedence; manufacturing processes for hollow charges F42B1/036; manufacture of blasting cartridge initiators F42B3/195
• CPC Class Codes: F42B 33/001 Devices or processes for assembling ammunition, cartridges or cartridge elements from parts
• CPC Class Codes: F42B 5/02 Cartridges, i.e. cases with charge and missile

Abstract

A munition, such as a projectile formed of at least one reactive material, is provided. In one embodiment, the projectile includes a body portion formed of at least one reactive material composition wherein the at least one reactive material composition defines at least a portion of an exterior surface of the projectile. In other words, a portion of the reactive material may be left “unbuffered” or exposed to the barrel of a gun or weapon from which it is launched and similarly exposed to a target with which the projectile subsequently impacts. In one embodiment, the projectile may be formed with a jacket surrounding a portion of the reactive material to provide additional structural integrity. The projectile may be formed by casting or pressing the reactive material into a desired shape. In another embodiment of the invention, the reactive material may be extruded into a near-net shape and then machined into the desired shape.

Claims

1. A projectile comprising:

at least one reactive material composition, wherein at least a portion of the at least one reactive material composition defines an unbuffered exterior surface of the projectile.

2. The projectile of claim 1, wherein the at least one reactive material composition includes a first reactive material of a first formulation and a second reactive material of a second formulation that is different from the first formulation.

3. The projectile of claim 2, wherein the second reactive material is substantially surrounded by the first reactive material.

4. The projectile of claim 3, wherein the second reactive material is more sensitive to initiation than the first reactive material upon impact of the projectile with a structure.

5. The projectile of claim 4, wherein the second reactive material includes copper.

6. The projectile of claim 1, wherein the first reactive material comprises at least one fuel, at least one oxidizer and at least one binder.

7. The projectile of claim 6, wherein the at least one binder includes at least one of a urethane binder, an epoxy binder and a polymer binder.

8. The projectile of claim 6, wherein the at least one fuel includes at least one of a metal, an intermetallic material, and a thermitic composition.

9. The projectile of claim 6, wherein the at least one oxidizer includes at least one of ammonium perchlorate, an alkali metal perchlorate, lithium nitrate, sodium nitrate, potassium nitrate, rubidium nitrate, cesium nitrate, strontium nitrate, barium nitrate, barium and strontium peroxide.

10. The projectile of claim 1, further comprising a jacket partially surrounding the at least one reactive material composition.

11. The projectile of claim 10, wherein the jacket is formed of a material comprising at least one of copper and steel.

12. The projectile of claim 1, wherein the at least a portion of the at least one reactive material composition defining an unbuffered exterior surface of the projectile includes an intended leading end of the projectile.

13. The projectile of claim 1, wherein the at least one reactive material composition is configured as a substantially monolithic body.

14. A projectile comprising:

a first reactive material forming a body portion;

a second reactive material disposed at a first end of the body portion wherein the second reactive material is more sensitive to initiation upon impact of the projectile than is the first reactive material;

a jacket disposed substantially about the first reactive material and the second reactive material, the jacket defining an opening adjacent the first reactive material at a second end opposite the first end; and

a disc hermetically sealing the opening defined by the jacket.

15. The projectile of claim 14, wherein the first reactive material comprises at least one of a fuel, an oxidizer and a binder.

16. The projectile of claim 15, wherein the second reactive material includes copper.

17. The projectile of claim 16, wherein the jacket is formed of a material comprising at least one of copper and steel.

18. A method of forming a projectile, the method comprising:

forming a body from at least one reactive material composition;

defining at least a portion of an exterior surface of the projectile with a surface of the body exposing the at least one reactive material composition.

19. The method according to claim 18, wherein forming a body further includes casting the at least one reactive material composition into a desired shape.

20. The method according to claim 19, wherein the casting is performed under a vacuum.

21. The method according to claim 19, wherein the casting is performed under pressure.

22. The method according to claim 18, wherein forming a body further includes extruding the at least one reactive material composition.

23. The method according to claim 22, wherein extruding further includes extruding the at least one reactive material into a near-net shape and wherein the method further comprises machining the near-net shape into a desired shape.

24. The method according to claim 18, wherein forming a body further comprises pressing the reactive material composition into a desired shape.

25. The method according to claim 18, further comprising forming a jacket about a portion of the body.

26. The method according to claim 18, wherein forming a body from at least one reactive material composition further includes forming a body portion from a first reactive material and a core member from a second material.

27. The method according to claim 26, wherein forming a body portion for a first reactive material and a core member from a second material includes forming the core member of a second reactive material.

28. The method according to claim 26, wherein forming a body portion for a first reactive material and a core member from a second material includes forming the core member of a material that is denser than the first reactive material.

29. The method according to claim 28, wherein forming a body portion for a first reactive material and a core member from a second material includes forming the core member of a material that includes tungsten.

30. The method according to claim 18, wherein forming a body from at least one reactive material composition further includes providing at least one reactive material composition comprising at least one fuel, at least one oxidizer and at least one binder.