PERFORATION OF ALUMINUM ARMOR PLATES WITH CONICAL-NOSE PROJECTILES

Engineering models that predict residual velocity and ballistic limit for rigid conical-nose projectiles that perforated rate-independent, strain-hardening target plates are developed. The cylindrical cavity-expansion approximation simplifies the target analysis, so closed-form perforation equations are obtained. To verify these models, terminal-ballistic experiments at normal incidence were conducted with 0.026 kg, 8.31 mm-diameter tungsten projectiles and armor plates of 5083-H131 aluminum. The models predicted residual velocities and ballistic limits that are in good agreement with the data for 12.7 mm, 50.8 mm, and 76.2 mm thick targets.