Impact of the 7.62-mm APM2 projectile against the edge of a metallic target

The core of the 7.62-mm, armor-piercing APM2 projectile is very strong, but also brittle. A combined analytical, numerical and experimental investigation examined the conditions to fracture the core. The analytical model is based on a Timoshenko beam analysis, where the projectile is idealized as a semi-infinite cylinder. A 3-D numerical model of the core, impacting against the edge of a metallic plate, was then used to investigate transient effects, the influence of constitutive model assumptions, and the influence of target properties on the magnitude of projectile bending strains. Results are then compared to experimental data. Numerical simulations of the full (jacketed) projectile were also investigated, and it is demonstrated that the erosion strain of the jacket is a critical parameter for successful simulations.