Microstructure Effect of Heat Input on Ballistic Performance of Welded High Strength Armor Steel

The effect of two different heat inputs, 1.2 and 0.8 kJ/ mg, on the microstructure associated with a welded high hardness armor (HHA) steel was investigated by ballistic tests. A novel way of comparing the ballistic performance between fusion zone (FZ), heat-affected zone (HAZ), and base metal (BM) of the HHA joint plate was applied by using results of the limit velocity V50. These results of V50 were combined with those of ballistic absorbed impact energy, microhardness, and Charpy and tensile strength revealing that the higher ballistic performance was attained for the lower heat input. Indeed, the lower heat input was associated with a superior performance of the HAZ, by reaching a V50 projectile limit velocity of 668 m/s, as compared to V50 of 622 m/s for higher heat input as well as to both FZ and BM, with 556 and 567 m/s, respectively. Another relevant result, which is for the first time disclosed, refers to the comparative lower microhardness of the HAZ (445 HV) vs. BM (503 HV), in spite of the HAZ superior ballistic performance. This apparent contradiction is attributed to the HAZ bainitic microstructure with a relatively greater toughness, which was found more determinant for the ballistic resistance than the harder microstructure of the BM tempered martensite.

Energy Absorption and Limit Velocity of Epoxy Composites Incorporated with Fique Fabric as Ballistic Armor—A Brief Report

Polymer composites reinforced with natural fabric have recently been investigated as possible ballistic armor for personal protection against different levels of ammunition. In particular, fabric made of fique fibers, which is extracted from the leaves of the Furcraea andina, was applied as reinforcement for polymer composites used in a multilayered armor system (MAS). The superior performance of the fique fabric composites as a second MAS layer motivated this brief report on the determination of the absorbed energy and capability to limit velocity in the stand-alone ballistic tests. The single plates of epoxy composites, which were reinforced with up to 50 vol% of fique fabric, were ballistic tested as targets against 7.62 mm high-speed, ~840 m/s, impact ammunition for the first time. The results were statistically analyzed by the Weibull method and ANOVA. The absorbed energies of the 200–219 J and limit velocities of 202–211 m/s were found statistically similar to the epoxy composites reinforced with the fique fabric from 15 to 50 vol%. Predominantly, these findings are better than those reported for the plain epoxy and aramid fabric (KevlarTM) used as stand-alone plates with the same thickness. Macrocracks in the 15 and 30 vol% fique fabric composites compromise their application as armor plates. The delamination rupture mechanism was revealed by scanning electron microscopy. By contrast, the integrity was maintained in the 40 and 50 vol% composites, ensuring superior ballistic protection compared to the use of KevlarTM.

EXPERIMENTAL STUDY ON PERFORATION OF BRITTLE LAYERED OBSTACLES

An experimental study of the process of perforation of plates made of brittle materials by rigid strikers has been carried out. The strikers were accelerated to the required speed with a pneumatic gun. Both homogeneous plates and obstacles from several plates glued together, put together without gluing, or spaced relative to each other were considered as targets. The results of experiments on the perforation of plexiglass plates by rigid spherical bodies at impact velocities of 100–200 m/s are presented. Qualitative features of the fracture at different velocities of impact are revealed. For the samples considered, it was found that spaced plates reduce the velocity of the striker during penetration more effectively than the same plates putted together. A set of experiments were also carried out on perforation of two combined plates made of various brittle materials: plexiglass, ceramics, artificial stone (polyacryl, quartz) by a rigid spherical striker for a velocity range of 200–350 m/s. For each considered combination of plates, a ballistic limit (ballistic limit velocity, BLV, at which the striker penetrates the obstacle with zero exit speed) was experimentally established, which characterizes the protective properties of the barrier. The effect on the ballistic limit of the order of the layers was studied. As a result, it was found that for all selected pairs of materials, a larger ballistic limit was achieved when a less dense and less brittle plexiglass layer was located behind a denser plate (made of ceramic or artificial polyacrylic or quartz stone). The reverse order of the layers led to a decrease in the ballistic limit in all cases. Photographs illustrating the nature of the destruction of the plates are presented.

Numerical Study on Ballistic Resistance of Thin Aluminium Plate Subjected to Variable Diameter Projectile Impacts

The ballistic resistance of a thin aluminium plate was investigated against rigid hemispherical nosed projectile impact. The target span was varied as 68 mm, 100 mm, 150 mm and impacted normally by 19 mm diameter hemispherical nosed projectile. The residual velocity and ballistic limit velocity obtained from the numerical results using nonlinear finite element code LS-DYNA is compared with the experimental results available in the literature. Further, parametric study has been carried out for different projectile diameter with the same target span and validated with Recht and Ipson’s model. The ballistic limit has been decreasing with decrease in projectile diameter and it is also observed that ballistic limit of the target increases with increase in target span diameter.

Concentration distribution and deposition limit of medium-coarse sand-water slurry in inclined pipe

Sand-water slurry was investigated on an experimental pipe loop of inner diameter D = 100 mm with the horizontal, inclined, and vertical smooth pipe sections. A narrow particle size distribution silica sand of mean diameter 0.87 mm was used. The experimental investigation focused on the effects of pipe inclination, overall slurry concentration, and mean velocity on concentration distribution and deposition limit velocity. The measured concentration profiles showed different degrees of stratification for the positive and negative pipe inclinations. The degree of stratification depended on the pipe inclination and on overall slurry concentration and velocity. The ascending flow was less stratified than the corresponding descending flow, the difference increasing from horizontal flow up to an inclination angle of about +30°. The deposition limit velocity was sensitive to the pipe inclination, reaching higher values in the ascending than in the horizontal pipe. The maximum deposition limit value was reached for an inclination angle of about +25°, and the limit remained practically constant in value, about 1.25 times higher than that in the horizontal pipe. Conversely, in the descending pipe, the deposition limit decreased significantly with the negative slopes and tended to be zero for an inclination angle of about −30°, where no stationary bed was observed.

Ballistic Limit Estimation Approaches for Ballistic Resistance Assessment

The armour technologist conducts ballistic impact testing either for evaluating armour materials and systems or for studying material’s defeating mechanism. Most standards make use of the ballistic limit velocity for ballistic assessment. This is the bullet impact velocity that leads to the protection perforation in 50 per cent of the cases. Various models have been emerged to estimate this key metric. The present article summarises the popular models developed for ballistic limit estimation. An attempt is made to point out models’ strength and weakness. First, the experimental set-up used for that goal is displayed. Next, a concise overview of ballistic limit estimation methods is presented. Lastly, a discussion is dedicated to model’s comparison and analysis. This literature survey reveals that the main drawback of already existing methods is that they are purely statistical. Moreover, existing methods are based on the normality assumption of perforation velocities which tends from -infinity to infinity. The main conclusion of this survey is that the presented methods offer a comparable accuracy in estimating the ballistic limit velocity. However, a given variability is remarked when extreme values estimation is of interest, impact velocities leading to low and high perforation probability. Finally, existing models’ performances decay with the reduction of the experimental sample size which represent a constraining requirement in ballistic resistance assessment.

Ballistic limit velocity of tungsten alloy spherical fragment penetrating Ti/Al3Ti-laminated composite target plates

To determine the ballistic limit velocity of titanium–titanium tri-aluminide (Ti/Al3Ti)-laminated composites under the action of tungsten alloy spherical fragments, a type of 12.7 mm ballistic gun loading system was used to test the tungsten alloy spherical fragments vertically impacting the Ti/Al3Ti-laminated composite targets with different thickness. The relationship between the ballistic limit velocity and the target area density of the Ti/Al3Ti-laminated composite was obtained. As the area density increased, the ballistic limit velocity and the ballistic energy absorbed by the target plate also enhanced. Based on the dimensional analysis and similarity theory, a simulation law of tungsten alloy spherical fragments penetrating Ti/Al3Ti-laminated composite targets with different thickness was studied and an empirical formula for the ballistic limit velocity was obtained. The research results had an important application value for the optimal design of the light armor protection structure.

The effects of ArUco marker velocity and size on motion capture detection and accuracy in the context of human body kinematics analysis

The research aim was to analyse the influence of velocity and size of markers on the accuracy of motion capture measurement utilising image processing with the use of OpenCV. On the basis of the obtained results, the usefulness of the applied measurement method in studying the kinematics of the human body while driving operating a wheelchair was determined. This article presents the test results for a low-budget motion capture measurement system for testing the kinematics of the human body in a single plane. The tested measuring system includes a standard activity camera Xiaomi Yi4K, expanded polystyrene markers with printed ArUco codes, and original software for marker position detection developed by the author. The analysis of the measurement method with regard to its applicability in biomechanical studies has highlighted several key factors: the number of measuring points, measurement accuracy expressed as a relative error and the limit velocity at which the marker trajectory is correctly represented. The article shows that the limit velocity of the marker is 2.2 m/s for 50x50 mm markers and 1.4 m/s for 30x30 mm markers. The number of measured points ranged from 233 to 2,457 depending on the marker velocity. The relative error did not exceed 5% for the marker velocities and thus provided a correct representation of its trajectory.