Comparison of Simulation and Photographic Test Data

Computer simulations show the impact of ball and armor-piercing rounds into a thin silicon carbide ceramic tile backed by a thin aluminum plate. In the hard layer-soft layer design, the ceramic is hard and greatly damages the projectile, then the damaged projectile and pieces of broken ceramic are caught by the ductile soft layer. Early in the series, the front end of the projectile is stopped at the ceramic interface. Once the ceramic extensively breaks, the projectile begins to penetrate. The soft lead core of the ball round deforms greatly. The steel core of the armor-piercing round maintains its shape and perforates the armor. Large ductile deformation of the back plate is visible. The series of frames from a test of an armor-piercing round impacting a thin alumina ceramic tile backed by aluminum shows qualitative similarity to the large-scale numerical simulations. The black lines on the back of the target are used to measure back surface deformation. Note that the times in the simulations and test are not identical, but the similarity of results is still evident.

Published in the Spring 1998 issue of Technology Today®, published by Southwest Research Institute. For more information, contact Joe Fohn.

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