Normal penetration of tungsten alloy hollow projectiles into steel and concrete targets were performed. The macro behaviors
and the micro mechanisms of the fracture of
tungsten alloy hollow projectiles during penetration, that is, local plastic deformation or fracture in the critical region and adiabatic shear damage at the critical section, were given by the examination and investigation of received hollow projectiles. Furthermore, the strain history of the critical section that evidently revealed the alternate effect of dynamic compression and tension from the propagation of stress waves was successfully obtained by means of the onboard-recording system. The compression stress is evidently higher than the tension stress, and the value of stress is obviously influenced by the properties of target materials. Experimental results not only help to achieve the penetration model of hollow projectiles, but also provide the theoretical basis of structural design and material selection to realize the design optimization of hollow projectiles.