Study on the Penetration Characteristics of WFeNiMo High-Entropy Alloy Projectile Impacting Steel Target at High Speed

High-entropy alloys (HEAs) have attracted much attention in the field of penetrating materials due to their excellent mechanical properties and superior penetration ability. In this paper, the penetration experiments of WFeNiMo HEAs projectile and Q235 projectile impacting steel target at high speed are carried out by using two-stage light gas gun. The velocity of impacting is from 1186 to 1413 m/s. At the same time, the parameters of Johnson–Cook constitutive equation considering temperature and strain rate effects are determined by dynamic and static mechanical performance tests, and numerical simulation is carried out by AUTODYN-3D. By comparing numerical simulation and experimental results, the penetration characteristics of WFeNiMo HEAs are analyzed on the temperature, stress and damage morphology of the two materials when the projectile hits the steel target at high speed. The experimental results show that the deformation and shear failure mainly occur in the WFeNiMo HEAs projectile head, and the projectile head is in a sharp state during the penetration process. WFeNiMo HEAs have strong adiabatic shear sensitivity and are prone to adiabatic shear phenomenon, showing “self-sharpening” penetration characteristics.