An ideally shaped charge warhead is an effective weapon against armored targets. The use of the gathering energy effect generated by the explosion drives the liner to form a shaped charge jet, which can penetrate the armored target. Existing shaped charge warheads often use a metal liner. Herein, we discuss the characteristics of polymer liners. To study the characteristics of the expansive jet formed by the polymer liner, three polymer materials with different properties-polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), nylon (PA), and polycarbonate (PC)-were selected. Using the smooth particle hydrodynamics (SPH) method and the AUTODYN finite element software, the expansive jet formation by the polymer liners was simulated and verified by experimental data. The polymer jets of the different materials exhibit a certain degree of expansivity; however, due to differences in the material properties, the expansive diameter of the jet and the degree of head compaction differed. The expansive diameter of the PA jet was the smallest, and that of the PTFE jet was larger than that of the PA jet, but with a smaller compactness. The PC jet exhibited the largest expansive diameter and the highest degree of compactness.
Keywords: expansive jet; polymer material; shaped charge liner; tandem warhead.