Experimental and numerical investigation on the ballistic performance of aluminosilicate glass with different nosed projectiles

An experimental-numerical investigation on the ballistic perforation of aluminosilicate glass tiles is presented in this study. A gas gun has been used to launch steel projectiles with assorted nose shapes including flat, spherical, and conical into aluminosilicate glass tiles. It is found that the residual velocity of projectiles and the fragmentation behavior of glass are strongly affected by the shape of the projectile nose. A coupled FEM-SPH numerical model is built to reproduce the ballistic impact behavior of aluminosilicate glass. The Johnson-Holmquist II (JH-2) constitutive model is utilized to describe the rate-dependent mechanical behavior of the glass tiles. The glass tile model adopts the transformation of the finite elements into smoothed-particle hydrodynamics (SPH) elements when the failure criterion is met. This numerical method was validated by comparing with quasi-static compression, Brazilian tension, three-point-bending and dynamic SHPB tests data. The ballistic results from the numerical simulations are compared with experimental data showing good performance in predicting the projectile residual speed, glass tile inelastic deformation and fragmentation process. Finally, the effect of projectile deflection angle and tile thickness on the ballistic behavior of glass is investigated via the proposed model numerically.

Automated summary

This study investigates the ballistic perforation of aluminosilicate glass tiles through experimental and numerical methods. Steel projectiles with different nose shapes (flat, spherical, and conical) were fired into the glass tiles using a gas gun, and it was found that the residual velocity of projectiles and fragmentation behavior of the glass were greatly influenced by the projectile nose shape. A coupled finite element-smoothed particle hydrodynamics (FEM-SPH) numerical model was developed to simulate the ballistic impact behavior of the glass, using the rate-dependent Johnson-Holmquist II (JH-2) constitutive model to describe the mechanical behavior of the glass. The numerical simulations showed good agreement with experimental data, accurately predicting the projectile residual speed, glass tile deformation, and fragmentation process. The proposed model was also used to investigate the effects of projectile deflection angle and tile thickness on the ballistic behavior of the glass.