High-velocity penetration of concrete targets with three types of projectiles: Experiments and analysis

This study conducted high-velocity penetration experiments using conventional ogive-nose, double-ogive-nose, and grooved-tapered projectiles of approximately 2.5 kg and initial velocities between 1000 and 1360 m/s to penetrate or perforate concrete targets with unconfined compressive strengths of nominally 40MPa. The penetration performance data of these three types of projectiles with two different types of materials (i.e., AerMet100 and DT300) were obtained. The crater depth model considering both the projectile mass and the initial velocity was proposed based on the test results and a theoretical analysis. The penetration ability and the trajectory stability of these three projectile types were compared and analyzed accordingly. The results showed that, under these experimental conditions, the effects of these two different kinds of projectile materials on the penetration depth and mass erosion rate of projectile were not obvious. The existing models could not reflect the crater depths for projectiles of greater weights or higher velocities, whereas the new model established in this study was reliable. The double-ogive-nose has a certain effect of drag reduction. Thus, the double-ogive-nose projectile has a higher penetration ability than the conventional ogive-nose projectile. Meanwhile, the grooved-tapered projectile has a better trajectory stability, because the convex parts of tapered shank generated the restoring moment to stabilize the trajectory.