PENETRATION MECHANICS
® ® Facilities Southwest Research Institute (SwRI ) has been involved in penetration mechanics for ■ Indoor ballistics range over 30 years, including experimental, ■ 20/30-mm high-performance gun system analytical, and computational studies. The ■ 50-mm high-performance cannon (impact staff is internationally recognized for their velocities up to ~2.0 km/s) contributions to fundamental and applied ■ Outdoor test areas, up to 1,000 yards understanding of the mechanics and physics ■ Fully equipped instrumentation trailer (high- Keywords of penetration. speed data acquisition of pressure, strain, displacement, etc.) An integrated approachexperimentation, ■ Flash radiography numerical simulation, and analytical ■ Penetration Mechanics High-speed video (up to 60,000 frames per modeling is used to investigate and solve second) fundamental and applied problems in pene- ■ Ultra-high-speed digital imaging (up to 100 Armor Mechanics tration mechanics. High-speed diagnostics million frames per second) and a wide variety of launchers are used to Long-Rod Penetrators support experimental studies. Demonstrated capabilities include sabot design and fabrica- Small Arms tion for a wide range of projectiles from irregular-shaped objects to long rods with Body Armor high aspect ratios (L/D ≤30). A comple- mentary high-rate materials laboratory Ballistics Testing allows material characterization and deter- mination of computational constitutive Terminal Ballistics constants.
Ballistic Impact Applications and Experience ■ Low-speed impact Fragment-Simulating ■ Projectiles Small arms ■ Anti-tank kinetic energy projectiles D013871 FSP ■ Advanced penetrator concepts Long-rod projectile sabot (top) and a flash radiograph of the ■ Shaped-charge jet formation and sabot opening in flight Shaped Charges penetration ■ Penetration efficiency assessment Sabot Development ■ Hypervelocity impact
Concept Evaluation
Homeland Security D013873 Numerical parametric study of increasing projectile strength: L/D 10 tungsten alloy projectile impacting a hard armor steel target at 1.5 km/s (t = 75 μ/s) SOUTHWEST RESEARCH INSTITUTE D013868 D013872 Flash radiograph of armor-piercing Comparison of numerical simulations to experiment of a bullet impacting a ceramic/metal 7.62-mm APM2 bullet impacting (at muzzle velocity) a substrate target B4C/6061-T6 Al armor
Penetration channel for an L/D 30 tungsten- alloy projectile into an armor steel target D013869
Normalized penetration efficiency vs. impact velocity for three different L/D
ratio projectiles D013870
Southwest Research Institute is an independent, nonprofit, applied engineering and physical sciences research and development organi- zation using multidisciplinary approaches to problem solving. The Institute occupies 1,200 acres in San Antonio, Texas, and provides more than 2 million square feet of laboratories, test facilities, work- shops and offices for more than 3,300 employees who perform con- tract work for industry and govern- ment clients.
We welcome James D. Walker, Ph.D. your inquiries. Staff Scientist, Computational Mechanics Section For additional (210) 522-2051 information, [email protected] please contact: Engineering Dynamics Department Mechanical and Materials Engineering Division Southwest Research Institute Website: Southwest Research Institute www.swri.org 6220 Culebra Road • P.O. Drawer 28510 Engineering Dynamics Department Website: San Antonio, Texas 78228-0510 www.engdyn.swri.org
Equal Opportunity Employer M/F/D/V Committed to Diversity in the Workplace JCN 225527 18-1130 ec