Impact Resistance of Concrete Plates Depending on Projectile Properties

This article presents the findings of an experimental and numerical investigation into 120 mm thick concrete slabs subjected to impact by 7.62 × 51 mm projectiles with both hard (armour-piercing, AP) and soft (lead) cores. The results of laboratory tests, simplified calculations, and numerical simulations performed using ANSYS LS-DYNA software are presented. The material models and the numerical model description are provided. Experimental results demonstrated a substantial increase in both penetration depth and global specimen damage when subjected to the AP projectile. Despite its lower mass, the AP projectile caused significantly greater damage to the specimens than its lead-core counterpart. A comparison of the estimated penetration depths and the test results revealed that the projectile deformation upon impact must be accounted for when evaluating soft-core projectiles. Furthermore, it was observed that the elastic modulus had no influence on the impact resistance of the components.