Ballistic limit of metal plates struck by blunt deformable missiles: experiments

A soft or deformable missile changes shape as it penetrates a ductile metal target. The deformation increases the area of the contact surface and thus decreases the areal density of the missile. This paper investigates the e€ect of relative deformability of missile and plate on the ballistic limit of thin ductile plates which are struck at normal obliquity by soft cylindrical missiles. The e€ect of various parameters on the extent of global deformation (dishing) and localised failure mechanisms of the target plate are examined as a function of the relative size of plate and missile, ¯ow stress and fracture strain of the plate, missile mass, missile deformability at impact speeds close to the ballistic limit. There also is an analysis of how these deformation and failure characteristics a€ect the ballistic limit of a target plate.