An experimental and numerical investigation of the ballistic response of multi-level armour against armour piercing projectiles

• Published in: International journal of impact engineering Vol. 110; pp. 47 - 56
• Main Authors: Ali, M. Wasif, Mubashar, A., Uddin, Emad, Haq, S. Waheed Ul, Khan, M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Elsevier Ltd 01.12.2017; Elsevier BV
• Subjects: Aluminum; Armor penetration; Armour piercing projectile; Ballistics; Bending; Experimentation; Finite element method; Fragments; High speed impact; Impact prediction; Mathematical models; Penetration; Perforated armour plate; Projectiles; Steel; Perforated armour plate; High speed impact; Armour piercing projectile
• ISSN: 0734-743X; 1879-3509
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ijimpeng.2017.04.028

This research deals with the experimental and numerical investigation of ballistic protection provided by a combination of perforated and base armour plates. A 7.62mm armour piercing projectile was used during the experimentation to determine the ballistic response of an aluminum base armour plate and a combination of steel perforated and aluminum base armour plate. The armour piercing projectiles were able to penetrate the base armour plate while the combination of perforated and base armour plates was able to stop the penetration of the armour piercing projectile. A finite element method based numerical model was developed to investigate the defeating phenomenon of perforated and base armour plate combination. The brittle fracture caused by the bending of the projectile core due to the asymmetric impact was predicted and the resulting fragments of the projectile were unable to penetrate the base armour plate. Craters were formed on the surface of the base armour plate from the impact of the projectile fragments. The numerical model was able to predict the hole growth and penetration of projectile when only the base armour plate was impacted by the projectile.