Numerical study of the projectile trajectory disturbing during the oblique impacts

The numerical investigations have been performed to determine the effect of the projectile trajectory disturbing during oblique impacts. An impact of the 14.5x118 mm B32 armour piercing projectile on the A12O3 different shape elements backed by 7017 aluminum alloy plate was analyzed. The oblique impact was realized by different shapes of the frontal ceramic elements, including hemispheres and pyramids, with respect to standard flat tiles. The influence of the impact point location was also under considerations. The Computer simulations were performed with the Element Free Galerkin Method (EFG) implemented in LS-DYNA code. full 3D models of the projectile and targets were developed with strain rate and temperature dependent material constitutive relations. The Johson-Cook model was applied to describe the metallic parts, while the ceramic was modelled by Johnson-Holmquist constitutive relations. The models of the projectile, ceramic and aluminium alloy targets were validated with utilization of the experimental datafound in literature. The obtained results confirmed that the projectile trajectory undergoes essential deviation because of the projectile angular velocity. The conditions for maximizing the value of this angular velocity were studied and it is possible to reach several radians per millisecond. The conclusions presented in this paper can be applied to develop modern impact protection panels where the appropriate balance between the mass and protection level must be accomplished.