Ballistic Impact of 5.56 mm Small Arms Projectiles on Steel

Abstract

This paper presents experimental and 3-D numerical simulation of ballistic impact of 5.56 mm projectiles on steel plates. Standard 5.56-mm projectile comprising Cu-Ni as outer jacket and three different inner cores namely, steel-lead, Aluminum-lead & full lead at an impact velocity of 900 m/s is considered for analysis. Target plates thicknesses 1, 3.5 mm for steel at angle of obliquity of 0° has been considered in experimentation. The residual velocity curves were constructed and compared. All necessary material properties have been taken from published literature and numerical simulations have been performed using explicit commercial code ANSYS-AUTODYN. Constitutive models play a key role in simulation of impact events, rate dependent continuum damage models have been employed for both projectile & target. The findings of numerical investigations compared with experimental results. A good agreement found between computed and experimental results in terms of exit velocity, size & shape of perforation. A relative assessment of damage potential of three projectiles is also made.