Staballoy

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DU penetrator from the PGU-14/B incendiary 30mm round

Staballoys are metal alloys of a high proportion of depleted uranium with other metals, usually titanium or molybdenum, designed for use in kinetic energy penetrator armor-piercing munitions. One formulation has a composition of 99.25% of depleted uranium and 0.75% of titanium. Other variants can have 3.5% of titanium. They are about twice as dense as lead.

An alternative to staballoys in kinetic penetrator munition is tungsten, but it is more expensive, more difficult to machine and is not pyrophoric, so the munition lacks the incendiary effect enhancing its impact.

Staballoy is also a name for a class of commercially used stainless steels used for drilling rods for drilling rigs. An example is the Staballoy AG17. It is a different material than military staballoy. It contains 20.00% manganese, 17.00% chromium, 0.30% silicon, 0.03% carbon, 0.50% nitrogen, and 0.05% molybdenum, alloyed with iron. It is nonmagnetic. [1]

[edit] References

Trueman E. R., Black S., Read D. (2004). "Characterisation of depleted uranium (DU) from an unfired CHARM-3 penetrator". Science of The Total Environment 327 (1-3): 337 - 340. DOI:10.1016/S0048-9697(03)00401-7.
Pollanen R., Ikaheimonen T. K., Klemola S., Vartti V. P., Vesterbacka K., Ristonmaa S., Honkamaa T., Sipila P., Jokelainen I., Kosunen A., Zilliacus R., Kettunen M., Hokkanen M. (2003). "Characterisation of projectiles composed of depleted uranium". Review of tungsten-based kinetic energy penetrator materials 2-3: 133-142.