Eroding Penetrators

Abstract

The chapter describes the penetration processes of shaped-charge jets and long rod penetrators impacting metallic targets. These two types of eroding penetrators are considered as the most lethal threats for armored vehicles. Thus, in order to design efficient armors against them one has to understand the various aspects of their penetration characteristics, which are based on simple physical principles that were developed during and since WWII. We start with a short account of the so-called hydrodynamic theory of penetration, which was first applied for the penetration process of shaped charge jets and was further developed for the penetration of eroding long rods. Numerical simulations are presented in order to examine the validity of these models and to offer ways to improve them.