EFFECTIVITY OF A M42 SHAPED CHARGE AS A FUNCTION OF STAND-OFF DISTANCE

This orienting study is about the effectivity of shaped charges as a function of stand-off distance. To improve the protection of military vehicles, it is necessary to collect more information about the effects of shaped charges. Both penetration depth of the jet into C45 carbon steel and the distribution of fragments caused by the detonation of an M42 explosive were determined. The explosive of the M42 shaped charge is Composition A-5. The experiments were performed at eight different stand-off distances from 0 mm to a maximum of 250 mm. This research shows that the penetration depth increases with stand-off up to about 100 mm. After this maximum the penetration depth decreases. The number of observed impact points from fragments of the shaped charge increases with increasing stand-off distance. Two skewed distribution functions have been tentatively fitted to the impact point distributions. Possible future research is discussed.