Two experimental investigations and a corresponding analytical study w
ere conducted to examine the phenomena attendant to the impact of blun
t-nosed, hard-steel strikers on stationary thin plates of aluminum and
steel at moderate angles of yaw and zero obliquity. The variation of
ballistic limit with yaw angle or the terminal velocity and final traj
ectory angle in perforation tests were ascertained. Post-mortem examin
ation of the plates indicated that damage and failure occurred by bulg
ing, lateral indentation, and side and front petaling. A theoretical m
odel based on a membrane representation was developed that analyzed th
e impact by dividing the process into five stages. This model underpre
dicted the ballistic limit by up to 14%, with better correlation found
at higher yaw angles. Excellent agreement was observed between the ex
perimental and analytical final velocities when the data points were c
orrected to reflect the difference between the experimental values of
the ballistic limit and that predicted by the model. Fair agreement wa
s found between the experimental and the analytical values of the traj
ectory angle.