Numerical analysis of the tungsten carbide-cobalt cored bullet penetrating the high-hardness steel plate

Abstract

In the present study, penetration of a 6.5 mm Grendel armor-piercing projectile with a front tungsten carbidecobalt core and rear lead-antimony core into the 8.5 mm PROTAC 500 high hardness armor steel plate was analyzed both experimentally and numerically. Ballistic tests were performed in which the projectile’s initial velocity had the value of 740 m/s. Experimental results have shown that the partial perforation with the projectile embedment was the most frequent outcome. Two-dimensional axisymmetric non-linear numerical model corresponding to the performed tests was developed in ANSYS AUTODYN software using the mesh based Lagrangian technique. Johnson-Cook strength and failure models were employed for the characterization of the material behavior. Developed numerical model was verified against the experimental results and the influence of the projectile’s impact velocity on the parameters of the penetration was investigated. Rear lead alloy core was found to be able to provide significant enhancement of the projectile’s efficiency.