Search

Penetration depth is the most important parameter in terminal ballistics. Here only the case of projectiles penetrating granular medium is considered. Laboratory and field tests have shown that projectile characteristics such as mass, size, and nose shape, and target characteristics such as strength and density determine the depth of penetration. Analyses of full flight data recorded by onboard data acquisition system (G-Rec) are presented. These tests have revealed very high decelerations at impact with extensive particle fracture along the path of the projectile. Particle size distribution analysis of the sample collected from the projectile tip shows two to three orders of magnitude reduction in size. For similar impact velocities and target densities, Poncelet's coefficient does not vary with tip shape. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the event of high-energy penetrator impact, people involved in battlefield scenarios are exposed to the additional hazard stemming from ultrafine metallic particles, i.e. exposure, inhalation, and respiration of aerolized metals. In order to have reliable quantitative measurement of the aerosol particles generated under controlled impact conditions, an experimental set-up was designed to perform impact tests with light gas-gun in chamber. During the impact events, aerosol particle size distributions and total concentrations were measured with a one-second time resolution. In this study preliminary results relative to high purity copper projectile impact at different velocities are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]