Parametric study on mass loss of penetrators

Earth penetration weapon (EPW) is applicable for attacking underground targets protected by reinforced concrete and rocks. With increasing impact velocity, the mass loss/abrasion of penetrator increases, which significantly decreases the penetration efficiency due to the change of nose shape. The abrasion may induce instability of the penetrator, and lead to failure of its structure. A common disadvantage, i.e. dependence on corresponding experimental results, exists in all the available formulae, which limits their ranges of application in estimating the mass loss of pen- etrator. In this paper, we conduct a parametric study on the mass loss of penetrator, and indicate that the mass loss of penetrator can be determined by seven variables, i.e., the initial impact velocity, initial nose shape, melting heat, shank diameter of projectile and density and strength of target as well as the aggregate hardness of target. Further discussion on factors dominant in the mass abrasion of penetrator are given, which may be helpful for optimizing the target or the projectile for defensive or offensive objectives, respectively.