Comparative Experiment on Structural Damage of Supersonic Projectiles with Different Metal Materials Penetrating into Reinforced Concrete Targets

A supersonic earth-penetrating projectile is designed where two different metal materials are used for the projectile’s body. Experiments of projectiles with mass of 25 kg and impact velocity ranging from 1 100 m/s to 1 300 m/s are implemented by a cannon with caliber of 203 mm. The process of projectile penetrating into the reinforced concrete target is simulated based on a numerical method. Based on the experimental and simulation results, the projectile’s structural response and mass loss in supersonic condition were investigated. The results show that the two damage modes of projectile with different metal materials in supersonic penetration condition are head eroding and wall friction corrosion. The degree of damage and the head erosion amount are related to the metal materials of projectiles. The G50 metal with high-strength is appropriate to be used for the projectile body in supersonic penetration with impact velocity of 1 200 m/s. The phenomenon of diameter shrinkage is analyzed, and some suggestions are put forward for the design of projectile body structure in future engineering application.