EURODYMAT 2000 - 6th International Conference on Mechanical and Physical Behaviour of Materials under Dynamic Loading

J. Phys. IV France 10 (2000) Pr9-589-Pr9-594
DOI: 10.1051/jp4:2000998

An experimental investigation of ceramic block impenetrability to high velocity long rod impact

F. Malaise^{1, 2, 3}, F. Collombet^{2, 4} and J.Y. Tranchet<sup>1

1</sup>  Centre d'Études de Gramat, 46500 Gramat, France
²  LAMEFIP-ENSAM, Esplanade d'Arts et Métiers, 33405 Talence, France
³  Université de Toulouse 3, Laboratoire de Génie Mécanique, 133 avenue de Rangueil, 31077 Toulouse cedex 4, France
⁴  Centre d'Études Scientifiques et Techniques d'Aquitaine, 33114 Le Barp, France

Abstract
This paper investigates experimentally the conditions of impenetrability of thick ceramic tiles (silicon carbide) to the impact (at about 1500 m/s) of heavy metal alloy long rod penetrators. Original ballistic experiments have been carried out to prove that the pressurisation of the impact area (frontal confinement) can lead to complete erosion of the rod without any penetration into the ceramic tile. The influence of confinement on the defeat phenomena has been then investigated through simulations with a Johnson-Holmquist type model to represent ceramic behaviour. The large discrepancies between experimental and numerical results suggest the need to improve ceramic behaviour modelling. In addition, these results show that our original experimental configuration gives good reference data to evaluate the efficiency of constitutive models.

© EDP Sciences 2000