Penetrator Round Assembly with Solid Steel Nose
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current projectiles fail to effectively penetrate explosive reactive armor without significant bending or damage, limiting their ability to perforate vehicle base armor and engage enemy vehicles at longer ranges.
Innovation Solution
A penetrator round assembly featuring a solid steel nose and a tungsten alloy main penetrator rod with a diameter greater than 24 mm, designed to absorb energy from moving ERA cover plates without bending, allowing for deeper armor penetration and increased engagement range.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If a conventional hollow nose design is used, then the projectile structure is lighter and easier to manufacture, but the base armor penetration depth is reduced by at least 20% due to bending damage from ERA cover plates
Solution Approach 1:
The nose is segmented into two distinct functional components: a sacrificial outer nose made of softer material that absorbs initial impact and breaks upon contact with ERA cover plates, and an inner main penetrator rod made of harder material that maintains structural integrity and continues penetration. This segmentation allows each component to perform its specific function optimally without compromising the other.
Solution Approach 2:
The harmful function of the nose (causing bending damage to the penetrator rod) is extracted and transferred to a separate sacrificial outer nose component. This outer nose is specifically designed to fail first, taking out the damaging interaction between the penetrator and ERA cover plates, while the main penetrator rod remains protected and intact for its primary penetration function.
2Strength
If the penetrator rod diameter is increased to absorb more energy, then the bending resistance improves, but the projectile weight increases and engagement range is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The nose assembly uses composite material construction with the outer nose made of a softer, more ductile material that is designed to deform and break, while the inner main penetrator rod is made of a harder, more brittle material optimized for penetration. This composite approach allows the system to absorb energy through controlled deformation of the outer material while maintaining the structural integrity and sharpness of the inner penetrator, achieving high bending resistance without excessive weight increase.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solid steel nose acts as a sacrificial element, absorbing initial energy and preventing main rod bending, resulting in at least 20% deeper base armor penetration compared to hollow nose designs over 1-4 km, and enabling longer engagement ranges.
Implementation Method 1
The penetrator round assembly includes a solid steel nose that is sufficiently robust to perforate explosive reactive armor ('ERA') cover plates and absorb the initial energy from the moving ERA cover plates without significantly bending the main penetrator rod of the assembly
Implementation Method 2
the main penetrator rod of the assembly has a greater bending stiffness than other penetrator round assemblies, thereby allowing the main penetrator rod of this disclosure to absorb the grinding interaction of moving ERA cover plates better than the other penetrator round assemblies
Implementation Method 3
designed to penetrate explosive reactive armor. Using various techniques described in this disclosure, the penetrator round assembly perforates explosive reactive armor ('ERA') cover plates and absorbs the initial energy from the moving ERA plates without significantly bending the main penetrator rod
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2~3
Figure 4
AI summary
A penetrator round assembly (10) comprises a main penetrator rod (32) comprising a tungsten alloy and a solid nose (34) engaged to the main penetrator rod (32).