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With the relatively recent introduction of quantitative and volumetric X-ray computed tomography (XCT) applied to ballistic impact damage diagnostics, significant inroads have been made in expanding our knowledge base of the morphological variants of physical impact damage. Yet, the current state of the art in computational and simulation modeling of terminal ballistic performance remains predominantly focused on the penetration phenomenon, without detailed consideration of the physical characteristics of actual impact damage. Similarly, armor ceramic material improvements appear more focused on penetration resistance than on improved intrinsic damage tolerance and damage resistance. Basically, these approaches minimize our understanding of the potential influence that impact damage may play in the mitigation or prevention of ballistic penetration. Examples of current capabilities of XCT characterization, quantification, and visualization of complex impact damage variants are demonstrated and discussed for impacted ceramic and metallic terminal ballistic target materials. Potential benefits of incorporating such impact damage diagnostics in future ballistic computational modeling are also briefly discussed.

A series of depth-of-penetration (DOF) tests are carried out to investigate the ballistic performance of armor ceramics. Based on the experimental results, an improved differential efficiency factor (DEF) is presented, which demonstrates that the general ballistic efficiency index is independent of the ceramic thickness. It is also shown that the density, internal friction, and compression strength of ceramics are crucial factors that affect the ballistic performance of ceramics significantly through the interaction between the long-rod projectiles and thick-tile armor.

The ability of γ-TiAl to withstand potential foreign object damage (FOD) and/or domestic object damage (DOD) is a technical risk to the implementation of γ-TiAl in low-pressure turbine (LPT) blade applications. The overall purpose of the present study was to determine the influence of ballistic impact damage on the high-cycle fatigue strength of γ-TiAl-simulated LPT blades. Impact and specimen variables included ballistic impact energy, projectile hardness, impact temperature, impact location, and leading-edge thickness. The level of damage induced by the ballistic impacting was studied and quantified on both the impact (front) and backside of the specimens. Multiple linear regression was used to model the cracking and fatigue response as a function of the impact variables. Of the impact variables studied, impact energy, had the largest influence on the response of γ-TiAl to ballistic impacting. Backside crack length (BSCL) was the best predictor of remnant fatigue strength for low-energy impacts (