Ballistic limit

The ballistic limit or limit velocity is the velocity required for a particular projectile to reliably (at least 50% of the time) penetrate a particular piece of material. In other words, a given projectile will generally not pierce a given target when the projectile velocity is lower than the ballistic limit. The term ''ballistic limit'' is used specifically in the context of armor; ''limit velocity'' is used in other contexts.

The ballistic limit equation for laminates, as derived by Reid and WenSR Reid, HM Wen. "Perforation of FRP laminates and sandwich panels subjected to missile impact". In: SR Reid, G Zhou, editors. "Impact behaviour of fibre-reinforced composite materials and structures". Cambridge: Woodhead Publishers Ltd. 2000. In: G Reyes Villanueva, WJ Cantwell (2004). "The high velocity impact response of composite and FML-reinforced sandwich structures". ''Composites Science and Technology'' 64:35-54. . is as follows:

V_b=\frac \left +\sqrt\, \right /math>

where
*$V_b\,$ is the ballistic limit
*$\Gamma\,$ is a projectile constant determined experimentally
*$\rho_t\,$ is the density of the laminate
*$\sigma_e\,$ is the static linear elastic compression limit
*$D\,$ is the diameter of the projectile
*$T\,$ is the thickness of the laminate
*$m\,$ is the mass of the projectile

Additionally, the ballistic limit for small-caliber into homogeneous armor by TM5-855-1 is:

V_1= 19.72 \left \frac \right

where
*$V_1$ is the ballistic limit velocity in fps
*$d$ is the caliber of the projectile, in inches
*$e_h$ is the thickness of the homogeneous armor (valid from BHN 360 - 440) in inches
*$\theta$ is the angle of obliquity
*$W_T$ is the weight of the projectile, in lbs

References

Ballistics

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