Perforation of 12 mm thick steel plates by 20 mm diameter projectiles with flat, hemispherical and conical noses: Part I: Experimental study

Projectiles with three different nose shapes (blunt, hemispherical and conical) have been used in gas gun experiments to penetrate 12 mm thick Weldox 460 E steel plates. Based on the experimental results, the residual velocity curves of the target material were constructed and compared. It was found that the nose shape of the projectile significantly affected both the energy absorption mechanism and the failure mode of the target during penetration. The ballistic limit velocities were about equal and close to 300 m/s for hemispherical and conical projectiles, while it was considerably lower for blunt projectiles. Blunt projectiles caused failure by plugging, which is dominated by shear banding, while hemispherical and conical projectiles penetrated the target mainly by pushing the material in front of the projectile aside. Also, the residual velocity curves were influenced by nose shape, partly due to the differences in projectile deformation at impact. The experimental study, given in this part of the paper forms the basis for explicit finite element analysis using the commercial code LS-DYNA presented in Part II of the paper.