Evaluation of Titanium-5Al-5Mo-5V-3Cr (Ti-5553) Alloy against Fragment and Armor-Piercing Projectiles

Ballistic tests were carried out on the relatively new titanium alloy Ti-5A1-5V-5Mo-3Cr (Ti-5553), which was subjected to two heat treatment conditions. The two heat treatments provided high-strength plates which were solution treated and aged (STA) and high toughness plates that were beta-annealed, slow cooled and aged (BASCA). The ~13.9-mm-thick plates were evaluated for V50 using 0.50-cal. FSP and 0.30-cal. AP M2 projectiles. The results were benchmarked against MIL-DTL- 46077F and MIL-A-46077 D for weldable titanium alloy armor plate (Ti-6Al-4V). The BASCA plates exceeded the requirement for the 0.30-cal. AP M2 by 3.2% but fell short of the Ti-6A1-4V performance against the 0.50-cal. FSP projectiles by 11.3%. The STA plates exceeded the Ti-6A1-4V mil-spec requirement by 8.7% and 11.7% for the 0.30-cal. AP M2 and 0.50-cal. FSP projectiles, respectively.
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