Investigation Research On PELE Projectile Fragmentation And Forming Radially Expanded Crater

PELE projectile(Penetrator with Enhanced Lateral Efficiency) is a new type of armor-piercing projectile, which transforms a part of axial kinetic energy to radial kinetic energy, using different projectile jacket and core material. During penetration, PELE projectile forms radially expanded craters. After peforation, projectile generates large amounts of fragments with radial velocity.Numerical simulations were performed to follow various features in the process of PELE projectiles impacting on targets and forming lateral effects. Two separate simulation projects were held to investigate the influence factors, concerning projectile fragmentation and forming radially expanded crater, respectively.Autodyn-3D code was used to simulate projectile fragmentation, with Stochastic Failure and Crack Softening algorithm used to simulate the projectile jacket material fragmentation. Influence of projectile impact conditions, jacket material fracture properties,and geometry dimensions of both projectile and target, were discussed. Simulation results show that: Stochastic Failure and Crack Softening algorithm effectively improves projectile fragmentation simulation; a higher impact velocity, a higher rotation velocity,and a jacket material with smaller crack strain, is conducive to fragmentation; changing projectile impact angle, attack angle, or the geometry dimensions of either projectile or target leads to a complicated result for fragmentation.Autodyn-2D code was used to simulate projectile forming radially expanded crater,and the influence of projectile impact velocity, core material properties, and projectile jacket thickness on crater diameter and crater shape were investigated. Simulation results show that: enhanced impact velocity is conducive to better crater shape; at certain velocity, core density is the main factor that influences crater diameter, while core strength is not conducive to crater forming; thinner shell is conducive to a larger crater diameter,but not conducive to crater shape; PELE projectiles with different core material can show completely different crater forming features, due to their different deforming ability.