Effects of impact velocity on the dynamic fragmentation of rigid-brittle projectiles and ceramic composite armors

The silicon carbide (SiC)/metal composite armors with the composite cover on the front of the SiC plate were impacted by 12.7mm armor piercing incendiary (API) projectiles at velocities from 412.6m/s to 802.2m/s. The resulting projectile core and ceramic fragments were collected and then screened through a range of standard sieving screens. The mass distributions of fragments produced by projectile and ceramic impacting each other were obtained. The failure mechanism of the rigid-brittle core of 12.7mm API projectile after impacting SiC/metal composite armor was studied by examination of the failed core. The results show that the cumulative mass of core and ceramic fragments follow the Schuhmann distribution law. With the increase of impact velocity, the mass proportion of small core fragments increases, while for ceramic fragments, the mass proportion of fragments in different fractions does not change. The failure mechanism of the large equivalent diameter fragment ( >8mm) is tensile brittle fracture mainly. In contrast, the local plastic shear fracture exists on the fragments with an equivalent diameter of less than 2mm.