Experimental and theoretical researches of high-speed interaction of thin obstacles with a metal fragment

The development of lightweight protective structures of increased ballistic resistance is not an easy task, since often there are conflicting requirements in terms of cost, weight, thickness, materials availability, processability, etc. To assess the effectiveness of protective structures one should use methods that allow to research the obstacles destruction when collided with high-speed particles. The paper is devoted to the actual problem of studying the ballistic stability of thin barriers made of various protective materials (steel, titanium alloy, ceramics, metal ceramics) when interacting with a metal fragment simulator a spherical steel drummer in the range of interaction speeds of about 2500 m/s. An experimental technique has been developed to study the most important indicators: the depth of a crater in an obstacle, a fragment’s velocity drop when interacting with protection, the obstacle’s and splinter’s fragments scattering in overgraded space. Mathematical modeling was carried out within the framework of continuum mechanics, which adequately describes the interaction process of the drummer and the obstacle under various impact conditions.