Tanks can shoot kinetic energy “dart” ammo. Scientists say that Tungsten ones dull as they penetrate steel. But depleted uranium ones sharpen. How can this be true?

Question

Are some metals really that different from each other. Thank you.

In: 0

Answer 1

The way depleted uranium fractures as the tip impacts the target is to sluff off as splinters thereby “sharpening the tip”. DU is also pryophoric.

Answer 2

>Are some metals really that different from each other.

Yes. Just think of the differences between iron, copper, titanium, aluminium, and gold.

The self sharpening bit has been explained already.

Tungsten by comparison will deform like you’d expect many metals to. It is also heavy and hard, so while it will deform it also has good penetration for armour piercing applications.

Answer 3

They don’t dull as much as they mushroom out. ELI5: the tip of the tungsten penetrator is getting squished between the armor and the body of the penetrator. DU has different material properties that cause it to shed/flake apart from the outside in rather than the whole tip squishing. Basically, it’s more brittle and it shatters in a way that doesn’t impact performance as much as a softer metal deforming. It seems counterintuitive that a shattering projectile can be a better one, but it’s useful to realize that this happens on a very short time scale: it only needs to hold together long enough to get through the armor.

There are other reasons DU is used. It’s better at starting fires than tungsten rounds, and DU a waste product while tungsten is a rare metal.