Enhancing hypervelocity impact resistance of titanium substrate using Ti/SiC Metal Matrix Nanocomposite coating

This study evaluated the effect of applying a Ti/SiC Metal Matrix Nanocomposite (MMNC) coating to a Ti–6Al–4V substrate on enhancing the hypervelocity impact resistance. This coating was deposited using the Selective Laser Melting (SLM) technique. Hypervelocity impact experiments were performed using a two-stage light gas gun, with projectile velocities ranging from 3.7 to 5.4 km/s. Uncoated Ti–6Al–4V samples were also tested for comparison. The results showed that the Ti/SiC MMNC coating enhanced the hypervelocity impact resistance of the titanium substrate by reducing both impact crater depth and diameter. Additionally, this research presented an approach for modeling the experiments using Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH). Damage parameters obtained from the simulations were in a great agreement with experimental results. This SPH model can be used to reduce the need for extensive experimentation. [Display omitted] •Ti/SiC Metal Matrix Nanocomposite (MMNC) coating was applied on a Ti-6Al-4V substrate using Selective Laser Melting method.•Hypervelocity impact experiments were performed ranging from 3.7 to 5.4 km/s using a two-stage light gas gun.•The MMNC coating reduced the hypervelocity damage in Ti-6Al-4V substrate by reducing the impact crater depth and diameter.•A computational Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics model was developed to simulate the experiments.•Damage parameters obtained from the simulations were in great agreement with experimental results.