Ballistic Impacts with Bullet Splash-Load History Estimation for .308 Bullets vs. Hard Steel Targets

• Published in: Materials Vol. 16; no. 11; p. 3990
• Main Authors: Andreotti, Riccardo, Casaroli, Andrea, Colamartino, Ivan, Quercia, Mauro, Boniardi, Marco Virginio, Berto, Filippo
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 26.05.2023; MDPI
• Subjects: ballistic impact; Ballistic impact tests; ballistic protection; bullet splash; Deformation; Effectiveness; Estimation; finite element method; Fluid-structure interaction; Load; Load history; Military engineering; Plastic deformation; Projectiles; Simulation; Steel; Steel plates; terminal ballistics; Velocity; impact simulation; Durostat; ballistic impact; ballistic protection; explicit solver; finite element method; bullet-splash; bullet splash; terminal ballistics; Creusabro
• ISSN: 1996-1944; 1996-1944
• DOI: 10.3390/ma16113990

The study focuses on testing a simplified way of estimating the resultant force due to ballistic impacts resulting in a full fragmentation of the impactor with no penetration of the target. The method is intended to be useful for the parsimonious structural assessment of military aircrafts with integrated ballistic protection systems by means of large scale explicit finite element simulations. The research investigates the effectiveness of the method in allowing the prediction of the fields of plastic deformation collected by hard steel plates impacted by a wide range of semi-jacketed, monolithic, and full metal jacket .308 Winchester rifle bullets. The outcomes show the effectiveness of the method being strictly related to the full compliance of the considered cases with the bullet-splash hypotheses. The study therefore suggests the application of the load history approach only after careful experimental investigations on the specific impactor-target interactions.