Impact on Ceramic Targets

A series of approximately 150 tests were conducted on ceramic targets struck by cylindro-conical hard-steel projectiles at normal incidence up to velocities of about 1000 m/s. The primary objective was the determination of the effect of layering and the delineation of the ballistic limit of various combinations. In addition, a study of the erosive effect of the ceramic was executed. It was found that, on the basis of areal density, metal plates prefaced by ceramic materials are ballistically more inefficient than purely metallic targets in the low velocity range, while the reverse was found at speeds above 250 m/s. The eroded length was found to be related to the velocity of the projectile and the thickness of the ceramic layer. The projectile displacement data were found to be in very good accord with the results obtained from a previously utilized analytic force history taking into account the erosion process. The energy required to erode the projectile was found to be several orders of magnitude greater than that consumed in the fracture process of the frontal ceramic plate.