The importance of considering both DoP and VoP in forwards-ballistic penetrative experiments

The most common method of analysing armour performance is the Depth of Penetration (DoP). However, this 1-dimensional measurement does not provide insight into the method of penetration or energy absorbed by the target; the crater could be incredibly narrow or very wide and yield the same DoP. Analysis of the crater through Volume of Penetration (VoP) yields a more detailed metric to be used alongside DoP to visualise the crater, indicating whether energy was dispersed over a large area. VoP provides a wider insight into how the armour performed, giving evidence of potential defeat mechanisms. Digital reconstruction of the craters using x-ray radiographs or CT scanning can also provide a useful tool for computational models to be compared against. Success in utilising this analytical tool has been seen when comparing two layers of 5 mm alumina versus a single 10 mm monolithic block. A consistent difference in the ratio of DoP:VoP was seen between the layered and monolithic targets, indicating variation in the defeat mechanism between the two target configurations.