Penetration, containment and perforation of high speed projectiles

The subject of projectile impact on metallic and non-metallic target plates has been of interest for more than two centuries. The incentive for the study was motivated by the military with its need for development of faster projectiles and stronger armor. The current interest, however, in the subject is due largely to the need of information concerning the behaviour of materials under high strain rate effects and the need for information concerning the shielding from meteoroid hazard to space vehicles and high speed fragments, although the speeds of the interplanetary debris exceeds by an order of magnitude or more than the impact velocities common to traditional ballistics. In this paper, the different types of projectile impact are introduced and discussed, the main parameters affecting the phenomena which include parameters related to the projectile and parameters related to the target are presented and discussed. The mode of deformation together with the different methods for shielding against high speed fragments are also forwarded and discussed. (author)