Experimental Study on Dynamic Tensile Properties and Ballistic Performance of Different Armor Materials

Hopkinson bar system was used to test the dynamic tensile properties of high nitrogen steel, 685 armor steel, 603 armor steel and 316 stainless steel by adjusting loading pressure, the strain rate and dynamic tensile strength of different armor materials were obtained. Under the experimental conditions in this paper, the dynamic tensile strength of the high-nitrogen steel is 1883 MPa which is the maximum of the four materials. At the same time, by using 12.7 mm armor-piercing projectiles, the ballistic tests of semi-infinite targets of different armor materials were carried out. Penetration depth of high-nitrogen steel is 25.5 mm which is the smallest of the four materials. The standard penetration depths of armor materials decrease with the increase of dynamic tensile strengths, and tensile strength increases under the test conditions in this paper. Therefore, the material with high dynamic tensile strength should be selected as the ballistic component in armor design.