Penetration trajectory of concrete targets by ogived steel projectiles-Experiments and simulations

A series of scaled penetration experiments with ogive-nosed, steel projectiles penetrating into medium strength concrete cylindrical targets were conducted in this paper. In these experiments, the projectiles are launched with the velocity of 800 to 900 m/s at a certain angle. The three-dimensional flight attitudes of the projectile are recorded with a designed high-speed camera system. The spallation happens easily which forms craters on both sides on the surface of the target and the embedment and ricochet are liable to happen if the oblique angle and yaw are too large to neglect. All the projectiles have endured mass loss with a ratio from 3.4% to 6.7% and the mass loss tends to be positively related to the striking velocity. Simulations of the penetration test are done with the commercial software LS-DYNA and the fast simulation code PENE3D, respectively. The LS-DYNA can simulate the three-dimensional penetration properly but inefficiently, while the fast simulations with PENE3D are efficient in the simulation of three-dimensional penetration and the prediction of penetration trajectory with reasonable accuracy. The advantage of less time spent makes PENE3D applicable for the repeated and massive simulation in the weapon development and the quick decision-making on the battlefield.