title: Rifle bullet penetration into ballistic gelatin.
abstract: The penetration of a rifle bullet into a block of ballistic gelatin is experimentally and computationally studied for enhancing our understanding of the damage caused to human soft tissues. The gelatin is modeled as an isotropic and homogeneous elastic-plastic linearly strain-hardening material that obeys a polynomial equation of state. Effects of numerical uncertainties on penetration characteristics are found by repeating simulations with minute variations in the impact speed and the angle of attack. The temporary cavity formed in the gelatin and seen in pictures taken by two high speed cameras is found to compare well with the computed one. The computed time histories of the hydrostatic pressure at points situated 60 mm above the line of impact are found to have "two peaks", one due to the bullet impact and the other due to the bullet tumbling. Contours of the von Mises stress and of the effective plastic strain in the gelatin block imply that a very small region adjacent to the cavity surface is plastically deformed. The angle of attack is found to noticeably affect the penetration depth at the instant of the bullet tumbling through 90°.
authors.affiliation: School of Mechanical Engineering, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Nanjing 210094, China. Electronic address: wenyk2011@163.com.
authors.forename: Yaoke
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wen
authors.affiliation: School of Mechanical Engineering, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Nanjing 210094, China.
authors.forename: Cheng
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: No.208 Research Institute of China Ordnance Industries, Beijing 102202, China.
authors.forename: Yongxi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Jin
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering and Mechanics, M/C 0219, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA.
authors.forename: R C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Batra
mesh_terms: D044709:Forensic Ballistics; D005780:Gelatin; D006801:Humans; D014948:Wounds, Gunshot
chemical_list: D005780:Gelatin
keywords: Angle of attack; Ballistic gelatin; Penetration; Rifle bullet; Temporary cavity