Discarding the sabot of a high-velocity projectile by a laminated wood target

Experiments and numerical simulations were carried out to explore a mechanical method for discarding the sabot of a high-velocity projectile by a laminated wood target. First, the feasibility and parametric regular pattern of an orthotropic material model for wood in numerical simulation were discussed. And the numerical simulation program was verified and validated by combining with the hyper-speed penetration experimental data of U. S. Army. Then, the penetration/perforation phenomena were analyzed for a sabot-contained projectile impacting a laminated wood target under different conditions. The numerically simulated and experimental results show the followings. Under normal impact, the sabot of a sub-caliber projectile can be discarded effectively by a reasonably-designed laminated wood target, the projectile can penetrate vertically into the target and its velocity attenuation can be controllable. Under oblique impact, a laminated wood target can induce the attack angel of the projectile to increase. With the increasing of impact velocity, the consumption of a projectile's kinetic energy increases, which indicates that wood has an apparent strain-rate strengthening effect.