Predicting the penetration and perforation of FRP laminates struck normally by projectiles with different nose shapes

Simple relationships are given in this paper to predict the penetration and perforation of monolithic fibre-reinforced plastic (FRP) laminates struck normally by projectiles with different nose shapes over a wide range of imp act velocity. The approach is based on the assumption that the deformation is localized and that the mean pressure offered by the laminate targets to resist the projectiles can be decomposed into two parts. One part is a cohe sive quasi-static resistive pressure due to the elastic-plastic deformation of the laminate materials. The other is a dynamic resistive pressure arisi ng from velocity effects. Equations are obtained for predicting the depth o f penetration (DOP) in the FRP laminate targets and the ballistic limits in the case of perforation. It is shown that the model predictions are in goo d correlation with available experimental data. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science L td. All rights reserved.