L-003 Survey of recent works on the Mechanisms of Ballistic Impacts on Munitions or Energetic Materials

In this paper, the term "ballistic impac" applies to impact and further penetration of bullets, fragments (from warhead casings) and shaped charge jets. The corresponding threat on munitions has been studied for a number of years by various methods, from mere empirical tests to mathematical models.

This survey presents the basic factors to be taken into account in the understanding of initiation mechanisms in energetic materials subjected to these "impacts",  i.e. a combination o f terminal ballistics and explosive initiation criteria. This presentation is followed by a review o f the main teams working on this subject and of their recent publications (1987-1991), mostly within the NIMIC member nations. (65 references, with abstracts).