Author(s)

S. Syngellakis

Abstract

This paper discusses the material characteristics that influence resistance of thick targets to penetration by rigid projectiles and critically reviews simple analytical models for predicting the time history of the impact force and other response variables over a practical range of impact energies. The scope of the reviewed analyses is enhanced by accounting more rigorously for the contact geometries and introducing empirical relations for the parameters adopted in the simplified models. The analyses are implemented through a computer code whose effectiveness and reliability are tested on realistic impact events from the relevant technical literature. Comparisons are also made with finite element results. It is thus shown that the shock loading on a structure and its appendices can be reliably and efficiently predicted by a simple penetration analysis. Various means of enhancing the scope and effectiveness of the model are suggested. Keywords: impact, projectile, penetration, cavitation, modelling.

Keywords

impact, projectile, penetration, cavitation, modelling