Ballistic analysis of fiber metal laminates impacted by flat and conical impactors

In the present study, the ballistic limit of GLARE is investigated experimentally and numerically. Ballistic tests were conducted using one stage gas gun. In the experimental part, the ballistic limit of GLARE was determined. The effect of aluminum lamina thickness and the nose shape of projectile on the ballistic limit were also investigated. The experimental results show that the ballistic limit of GLARE impacted by a flat projectile is higher than in the case of a conical nose projectile, and that by decreasing the aluminum laminate thickness from 0.5 mm to 0.3 mm, the Specific Perforation Energy (SPE) is increased. In the numerical section, the penetration process was simulated using LS–DYNA software. The validation of the finite element model was done by experimental results. The effects of various involved parameters such as laminate thickness, mass and radii of impactor were also investigated. The numerical results prove the efficiency of GLARE over bare aluminum laminate with equal thickness, due to the lower deflection and higher SPE. Furthermore, the less the mass of the impactor or the greater the diameter of the flat projectile, the greater the ballistic limit of GLARE. Reasonable agreement is concluded between the numerical and experimental results.