Fragmentation of ceramics in the ballistic environment

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Fragmentation of ceramics in the ballistic environment

Grady, Dennis E.

The catastrophic disruption of materials in the ballistic environment commonly plays a central role in both the successful application of armor systems and the effective application of anti-armor systems. A theory of the dynamic fragmentation of solids based on continuum energy principles has provided a basis for assessing fragmentation in a wide range of ballistic applications over the past several decades. Applications of the theory to the fragmentation of brittle solids, including glass and ceramic, have been problematic, however. Recently, some of the physics issues governing length scales and size distributions in the dynamic fragmentation of brittle solids have come to light. The earlier energy-based fragmentation theory has been broadened to accommodate dynamic fragmentation in brittle materials. The paper summarizes past theories and their applications to fragmentation in the ballistic environment. More recent applications to ballistic fragmentation of glass and ceramic materials are described.