The inhibitor effect on the shaped charge jet penetration

A submunition is one of the small shaped charges and has a severe penetration capability when it is dispensed in large numbers from the sky. Neutralizing it is one of the major interests in military science. An inhibitor which can be formed inside of shaped charge liner when a submunition impacts soft material target plays an important role to the penetration performance. A silicone rubber material that shows suitable inhibitor character of being dug deep by submunition impact in penetration mechanism was selected. The penetration performance of a shaped charge adopted inhibitors was investigated through ballistic experiments and numerical simulations. A remarkable reduction of jet penetration capability was obtained from the experiment. Numerical simulation using LS-DYNA, which is a non-linear finite element analysis code, was also carried out to reconstruct the experimental results. The simulation results showed good agreement with the experimental results, providing insights into the noticeable reduction of jet penetration performance due to a silicone rubber inhibitor.