The use of Ti-6Al-4V titanium and titanium alloys in tanks has been widely reported in the U.S., but not in China, the former Soviet Union, or Russia. In the 1990s, the U.S. Abrams (Abrams) M1 main battle tanks and Bradley (Bradley) M2 combat vehicles used a number of titanium alloy parts to replace Rolled Homogeneous Armour (RHA).
It is said that in the M1A2 main battle tank with titanium alloy to replace seven major steel parts: rotary turret plate, nuclear warfare, biological and chemical weapons countermeasures system plate, the gunner's main sight cover, the engine cover, turret pivot frame, the command capsule, the captain of the thermal imaging observer cover. The total mass of these components in steel was 1,591kg, which was reduced to 1,116kg after the change to titanium alloy, a reduction of nearly 30%.
The command hatch cover and top attack armor of the M2 vehicle were originally forged with aluminum alloy, but were later changed to 100mm-127mm Ti-6Al-4V alloy plates, and the attack armor was made of 80mm thick titanium alloy plates, which were 35% lighter than the steel parts. Ti-6Al-4V alloy was melted with a low-cost electron-beam cold-bed furnace, and low-cost Ti-6A-1.7 Fe-0.1Si Timetal 62S alloy, developed by Titanium Metals Corporation (Timetal).
In the 1950s, the United States of America on the application of titanium alloys in the arms industry put more effort, fruitful, in order to reduce the quality of armored vehicles, improve its mobility and flexibility and bullet-resistant, Watertown (Watertown) Arsenal for titanium alloy resistance to gunfire and armor-piercing bullets and the ability to weld the performance of a large number of tests that titanium alloys are a strong armor material. In the same bulletproof performance, titanium alloy armor thickness should be 25% higher than steel, while titanium alloy armor mass is 25% lighter than steel.
In 1953, the U.S. Army in Detroit (Detroit) Arsenal with a thickness of 15.88mm RC-130AW titanium alloy plate made of T55-type armored car top armor to 37mm armor-piercing bullets for the test, the indicators are qualified to meet or exceed the predetermined value. 1956, the U.S. with the Ti-6Al-6V-2Sn-0.5Fe-0.5Cu alloy Forging tank tracks and tank load wheels, mounted on 50 tons of tanks through the 3378.9km of field running test, good condition.
In 1950, the U.S. Watertown Arsenal with Ti-6Al-4V and Ti-4Al-4V alloy for the Tank Automotive Command's M-21 (XM-13) type command vehicle each welded a command tower, and with 20mm shells for live fire. Test firing with two speeds, one for 450m / s, did not shoot through, but the back of the plate appeared a number of small cracks; the second shooting speed of 504m / s, penetrated into the titanium plate, but did not penetrate the plate, stuck in the plate, cracks did not expand. The results of the test firings were all satisfactory, with the titanium turret having a mass of 177kg compared to the steel turret's 281kg, the former being 104kg, or 37%, lighter than the latter.
In addition, Watertown Arsenal also used Ti-6Al-4V alloy and Ti-6Al-4Mn alloy instead of steel to manufacture parts such as: the main axle, suspension arm, tow bar, torsion axle, front wheel axle, etc. The tanks with the main axle of Ti-6Al-4V alloy underwent a 9,654km field test run and were in good condition.
