Evaluation of the Impact Resistance of Steel–Aluminum Laminated Target Plates with Isoplanar Density

The research aims to investigate the impact resistance of steel-aluminum laminated target plates, which is crucial for the design of high-performance anti-invasion structures. Previous studies have presented conflicting views on the protective performance of steel-aluminum laminated target plates, highlighting the need to clarify the influence of structural parameters on their protection capabilities. To address this, two groups of steel and aluminum plates with similar strengths and large differences in strengths were selected and tested. The ballistic limits characteristics of these double-layered plates were analyzed under different projectile nose shapes. Additionally, a 3D finite element model was established using ABAQUS/Explicit software, after the validity of the model was verified, the influence of the arrangement order of the steel and aluminum on the impact resistance was numerically simulated. The results show that the strength of the steel and aluminum plate materials is the key factor influencing the order of the best impact resistance of the target plate, and the shape of the projectile's nose and the thickness of the target plate don't have much influence on the order of the best impact resistance, which is also proved by the simulation results of the isoplanar density (same surface density). This study is instructive for the design and application of steel-aluminum laminated target plate structures with protective ends.