The ballistic performance of metal plates subjected to impact by blunt-nosed projectiles of different strength

In this paper, the ballistic performance of monolithic, double- and three-layered steel plates impacted by projectiles of different strength is experimentally investigated by a gas gun. The initial and residual velocities of the projectiles were measured, and also the ballistic limit velocity for each configuration target was obtained and compared based on the investigation of the effect of the number of layers and the strength of projectiles on the ballistic resistance. The results showed that monolithic plates had greater ballistic limit velocities than multi-layered plates for blunt-nosed projectiles of high strength, and also the ballistic limit velocities of plates increased with the increase of the number of layers. However, monolithic plates given lower ballistic limit velocities than multi-layered plates for blunt-nosed projectiles of low strength, and also the ballistic limit velocities of plates decreased with the increase of the number of layers. The differences in the ballistic limit velocities between various impact conditions can be related to the transitions of perforation mechanisms and failure models of plates and projectiles. Moreover, the deformation of projectiles of high strength was neglected after experiments, so the projectiles can be regarded as non-deformable. Comparatively, projectiles of low strength were partly damaged in the tests.