Experimental and numerical studies of double-nosed projectile impact on aluminum plates

Experiments and numerical simulations were performed to study the failure modes and ballistic resistance of aluminum targets subjected to normal impact of double-nosed projectiles. Three such projectiles used in this study were designated according to their front and second nose shapes as conico-blunt, blunt-blunt and blunt-conico. Each projectile was hit normally on 0.82 and 1.82 mm thick circular plate targets of 1100-H14 aluminium at different velocities. The deformation, failure mode and ballistic limit of both targets were obtained through experiments and reproduced through simulations using ABAQUS/Explicit finite element code. The ballistic limit of target was found to be highest against blunt-blunt followed by conico-blunt and blunt-conico projectile respectively. The results of target response thus obtained due to the impact of the double-nosed projectiles were compared with those of the single-nosed blunt and conical projectiles, and typical features of the plate response have been discussed for both double and single-nosed projectiles. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.