Ballistic studies on layered structures

This paper presents the ballistic behavior and penetration mechanism of metal–metal and metal–fabric layered structures against 7.62 armour piercing projectiles at a velocity of 840 ± 15 m/s at 30° angle of impact and compares the ballistic results with that of homogeneous metallic steel armour. This study also describes the effect of keeping a gap between the target layers. Experimental results showed that among the investigated materials, the best ballistic performance was attained with metal–fabric layered structures. The improvements in ballistic performance were analyzed in terms of mode of failure and fracture mechanisms of the samples by using optical and electron microscope, X-ray radiography and hardness measurement equipments.