The Role Of Water Content On Ballistic Penetration Of Sand By Spherical Projectile

CDR Yan Fauzullah, LCDR Nurulloh Zemy Prasetyo, Indonezian Navy

This research examines the role of water content on the penetration depth of a spherical projectile into sand at typical small arms muzzle velocities. A 0.5-inch gas gun was assembled, tested, and then used to sabot-launch 10 mm stainless steel spheres into dry, partly saturated, and fully saturated Monterey sand. Penetration depth increased significantly with water content, and altered the characteristic crushing of sand particles ahead of the sphere. The Poncelet model was used to determine effective drag coefficients and material strength as a function of impact velocity and water saturation. In addition, a modified form of Young’s model was developed to describe the data set in terms of an effective soil constant (S-number) which was moisture-dependent.