Effect of projectile's nose shape on ballistic performance of ceramic/composite armour: A numerical study

In the present study, finite element analysis were carried out to investigate the ballistic performance of Al2O3-Kevlar 29/epoxy armour system impacted by a 4340 steel projectile. The perforation capacity of a 10 mm thick target was studied against a blunt, ogive, and conical shaped projectile with a fixed diameter and mass of 7.56 mm and 10.7 gm, respectively. The simulations were carried out in Ansys/Autodyn by considering the projectile as a deformable body. The variation of the ballistic limit velocity (BLV) and energy, progressive damage of the target, and projectile deformation were studied comprehensively. It was found that the nose configuration of the projectile significantly influence the target's ballistic performance. The perforation capacity of the blunt projectile was lower than the ogive and conical shape in all the velocity regimes. At higher impact velocity (V-i >600 m/s), the target's resistance was better against the ogive projectile than that of the sharp conical projectile. Interestingly, this phenomenon got reversed when the incident velocity nears the ballistic limit. Also, from the simulation results, it has been possible to obtain the optimum thicknesses of the components for a given total thickness of the armour.