Parameter Analysis on the Thickness of an Aluminum–Steel Intercepting Plate in Active Electric Armor

Active electric armor will play an important role in the future of armored vehicle protective systems. The active electric armor interceptor is based on the principle of a single-stage coil launcher and must use nonferromagnetic good conducting material as its inductive coil, such as aluminum. However, in order to enhance the interception effectiveness, people hope to use high-strength ferromagnetic material, such as steel. Therefore, in order to gain the best performance, the most possible method is to synthesize the two kinds of materials in actual applications. In this paper, the electromagnetic field characteristics and the force acting on the interceptor are described. First, the mathematical model of the active electric armor interceptor is provided, and the equations of state, thrust, and motion are established, respectively. Since the intercepting plate is made of different materials such as aluminum and steel, the magnetic field distribution and force of the plates present a great difference even at the same launch current. When the intercepting plate is made of aluminum-steel material, the thickness of the aluminum plate, as well as that of the steel plate, has great effect on the thrust force of the plate. Then, a finite-element method is used to analyze the magnetic field distribution and thrust force of the intercepting plate. The result indicates that the thrust force varies with the thickness of the aluminum plate and the steel plate, and there exists an optimum thickness for the plate at different launch currents. This paper provides references for the design of an aluminum-steel intercepting plate in active electric armor.