An Investigation of the Use of Spin-Stabilized Cubes as Fragment Simulators in Armor Evaluation

Abstract

An investigation was made of the use of cubes as fragment-simulators for armor evaluation and testing. One-quarter inch steel cubes were launched from a rifled barrel in an attempt to induce stability through spin stabilization. Specially molded lexan sabots were used to launch the cubes in the three predominant orientations: flat, edge, and point. The success rate of impact orientation predictability was high enough to warrant further consideration of cubes as fragment simulators. V50 ballistic limits were determined for four armor materials under flat, edge, and point impacts. Drag coefficients were determined for the three predominant orientations over the range of Mach numbers 0.5 to 3.5 and found to be generally higher than those previously measured by investigators who assumed cubes tumbled in flight.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jun 01, 1971
Accession Number
AD0769501

Entities

People

  • Randall L. Schamberger

Organizations

  • Air Force Institute of Technology

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Force
  • Air Force Facilities
  • Drag
  • Experimental Data
  • Gun Muzzles
  • Mach Number
  • Materials
  • Materials Laboratories
  • Measurement
  • Mechanical Engineering
  • Moment Of Inertia
  • Momentum
  • Simulators
  • Spin Stabilization
  • Standards
  • Test And Evaluation
  • Trajectories

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Graph Algorithms and Convex Optimization.
  • Mathematics or Statistics
  • ballistics.