Application of sintered liners for explosively formed projectile charges

•The paper presents the results of experimental investigations on the formation and penetration of EFP charges with sintered copper liners.•The process of the formation of projectiles from sintered liners is analogous to that observed for projectiles formed from solid metal.•Effectiveness of EFP charges with spherical liners made of copper powder is comparable to that made of solid copper.•Applying described technology, it should be possible to make heavy spherical liners (using mixture of Cu/W powders) with a density up to 15 g/cm3. The paper presents the results of experimental investigations on the formation and penetration efficiency of EFP charges with liners performed by applying a powder metallurgy method. Two types of sintered powder liners were tested: liners of the shape of a spherical surface sector and the conical liners with an open apex angle. Liners were made of copper powder and have a base diameter of 45 mm and a mass of 30 g. Explosive charges with sintered copper liners were examined using X-ray pulse technique and a high-speed digital camera. Dynamic shaping of explosively formed projectiles was recorded and the perforation of a steel barrier was tested. Concluding, liners for EFP charges made using powder metallurgy technology proved to be a fully featured substitute for conventional spherical liners produced with a technologically more complicated manufacturing process.