Development of a penetration model for an erosive long rod considering strength effects of colliding materials

In this article a simple penetration model for the terminal ballistic of long rod penetrators is developed. The model is to predict the crater depth of a projectile penetrating into a semi-infinite target. A principle objective was to take an account of strength properties of colliding materials using erosive phenomena. The entire velocity regime from low to hypervelocity is analysed. The effect of the penetrator aspect ratio is also considered in the model. The model developed here is based on the steady-state penetration process and is used to compare with existing experimental measurements. The results of the comparison show very good agreement with experimental investigations of other researchers in this field. The study shows that it is possible to construct a very simple model to predict crater depth for a large range of materials with sufficient accuracy without recourse to high cost of experimentation. In fact, the biggest advantage of this model is simplicity and direct applicability to design process. Historically, penetration mechanics has relied very heavily on experimental investigation. This work gives a quick and easy result with sufficient accuracy which may be useful for many applications. To validate the analytical solution, an experimental method is employed.