Ballistic limit for oblique impact of thin sandwich panels and spaced plates

Ballistic perforations of monolithic steel sheets, two-layered sheets and lightweight sandwich panels were investigated both experimentally and numerically. The experiments were performed using a short cylindrical projectile with either a flat or hemispherical nose that struck the target plate at an angle of obliquity. A total of 170 tests were performed at angles of obliquity 0–45°. The results suggest that during perforation by a flat-nosed projectile, layered plates cause more energy loss than monolithic plates of the same material and total thickness. There was no significant difference in the measured ballistic limit speed between monolithic plates and layered plates during oblique impact perforation by a hemispherical-nosed projectile.