Studying on the penetration depth of penetrator with including the effect of mass abrasion

Mass abrasion is observed on the nose of a projectile when it strikes concrete target at high velocity, which significantly affect the penetration performance. To evaluate the influence of the mass abrasion on the depth of penetration (DOP), an empirical relationship between the nose factor of the residual projectile after abrasion and the initial impact velocity is constructed according to the published experimental data. Based on the dynamic cavity expansion theory, considering the varying nose shape and the instant mass of a projectile, a modified model is proposed to calculate the DOP of kinetic energy penetrator. The modified model demonstrates that an upper limit of DOP exists due to the mass abrasion of projectile, which also had been confirmed by different experimental data.