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A methodology is developed based on the coupling of a finite element code with an optimisation module for the design of land vehicle armouring composed of lightweight aluminium alloy and high strength steel plate. Following an experiment/simulation correlation, a numerical model has been built and calibrated considering monolithic plates and then verified considering a bi-metal protection against tungsten carbide projectile mimicking the core of a 7.62x51 AP8 ammunition. In addition, a method is proposed to obtain the vres - vi curve for the full 7.62x51 AP8 bullet from the vres - vi curve obtained from the core only. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The insufficient recognition of injuries by the BB-gun (regarded as toys for children) has led to its increasing misuse without permission, which has caused many public safety issues. Aiming to enhance the understanding of the injuries by the BB-gun, the experimental and numerical study of BB-Gun pellet penetrating "cowhide + gelatine" composite target was comprehensively carried out. It was confirmed from the experiment that BB-Gun is capable of inflicting severe or fatal wounds to important organs, and perforating the skin or not could be employed to evaluate the safety of BB-guns. Moreover, three forms of ballistic limit (including: velocity, kinetic energy and specific kinetic energy) of typical BB were calculated and analyzed by reasonably validated numerical simulation method. Additionally, a formulation was acquired by dimensional analysis based on the simulation results and was verified to accurately predict the ballistic limit velocity of BB with different mechanical properties. The method may help to improve the understanding on the minimal velocity needed to perforate skin and may be advised as the determination of the safety of BB-gun. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ballistic impact response of thermoplastic-based composite armors made from Kevlar ® fabric and polypropylene (PP) matrix has been investigated against ballistic test standard NIJ-STD 0106.01 Type IIIA. Kevlar ® fabrics of different architectures, namely 2D plain woven, 3D orthogonal and 3D angle interlock fabrics, were produced and used as reinforcements to fabricate composite armor panels, using compression molding technology. Interfacial property between PP and Kevlar ® was improved by adding a coupling agent called maleic anhydride grafted PP. Reduced density was observed in Kevlar ® thermoplastic-based composites as compared to that of the thermoset-based laminates. Ballistic impact tests were imparted with 9 mm full metal jacket (FMJ) on armor panels having different fabric architecture. Ballistic test results revealed that 2D armor was 2.4–7% more susceptible to damage than 3D armors. Hydrocode simulations were carried out using ANSYS AUTODYN v. 14.0 to obtain an estimate for the ballistic limit velocity and simulate failure modes. Post-impact damage patterns obtained from the simulations were compared with the experimental results to assess the performance of the simulations. Good correlation between the hydrocode simulations and experiments was found, both in terms of failure modes and damage patterns. 3D composite armors were able to confront the 9 mm FMJ projectile; however, the 2D plain woven armors failed. The increase in the ballistic limit from 2D plain woven armor to 3D orthogonal and 3D angle interlock armors was 16.44% and 20%, respectively, indicating the effect of fabric architecture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ballistic performance of thin aluminium targets and influence thereon of different circumferential fixity conditions were studied both experimentally and by finite element simulations. A pressure gun was employed to carry out the experiments while the numerical simulations were performed on ABAQUS/Explicit finite element code using Johnson–Cook elasto-viscoplastic material model. 1 mm thick 1100-H12 aluminium plates of free span diameter 255 mm were normally impacted by 19 mm diameter ogive and blunt nosed projectiles. The boundary conditions of the plate were varied by varying the region of fixity along its circumference as 100%, 75%, 50% and 25% in experiments and the numerical simulations. Further, simulations were carried out to compare the response of the plates with 50% and 75% continuous fixity with those with two and three symmetrical intermittent regions of 25% fixity respectively. The variation in the boundary condition has been found to have insignificant influence on the failure mode of the target however; it significantly affected the mechanics of target deformation and its energy absorption capacity. The ballistic limit increased with decrease in the region of fixity. It decreased for intermittent fixity in comparison with equivalent continuous fixity. And, it has been found to be higher for the impact with projectile having blunt nose in comparison with the one having ogive nose. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]