SOUTHWEST RESEARCH INSTITUTE

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For more than 30 years, fundamental and applied problems in penetration mechanics have been investigated and solved by engineers at  Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) using an integrated approach, including:

• Experimentation

• Numerical simulation

• Analytical modeling

The penetration mechanics staff is internationally recognized for contributions to fundamental and applied understanding of the mechanics and physics of penetration.

High-speed diagnostics and a wide variety of launchers are used to support experimental studies. Demonstrated capabilities include sabot design and fabrication for a wide range of projectiles from irregular-shaped objects to long rods with high aspect ratios (L/D < 30). A complementary high-rate materials laboratory enables material characterization and determination of computational constitutive constants.

Numerical parametric study of increasing projectile strength: L/D 10 tungsten alloy projectile impacting a hard armor steel target at 1.5 km/s (t = 75 µs)

Penetration Mechanics Applications and Experience

• Low-speed impact

• Small arms

• Anti-tank kinetic energy projectiles

• Advanced penetrator concepts

• Shaped-charge jet formation and penetration

• Penetration efficiency assessment

• Hypervelocity impact

Penetration Mechanics Facilities

• Indoor ballistics range

• 20/30-mm high-performance gun system

• 50-mm high-performance cannon (impact velocities up to ~2.0 km/s)

• Outdoor test areas, up to 1,000 yards

• Fully equipped instrumentation trailer (high-speed data acquisition of pressure, strain, displacement, etc.)

• Flash radiography

• High-speed video (up to 60,000 frames per second)

• Ultra-high-speed digital imaging (up to 100 million frames per second)

Penetration channel for an L/D 30 tungsten-alloy projectile into an armor steel target		Comparison of numerical simulations to experiment of a 7.62-mm APM2 bullet impacting (at muzzle velocity) a B4C/6061-T6 Al armor

Normalized penetration efficiency vs. impact velocity for three different L/D ratio projectiles		Flash radiograph of armor-piercing bullet impacting a ceramic/metal substrate target

For more information about penetration mechanics capabilities at SwRI or how you can contract with SwRI, please contact Charles Anderson, Jr., Ph.D., at canderson@swri.org or (210) 522-2313.
 

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Southwest Research Institute^® (SwRI^®), headquartered in San Antonio, Texas, is a multidisciplinary, independent, nonprofit, applied engineering and physical sciences research and development organization with 12 technical divisions.

August 04, 2009