Terminal depth of penetration of spherical projectiles in transparent granular media

Abstract

A series of 80 penetration tests were performed to study the terminal depth of penetration into dry and saturated transparent synthetic sand. The transparent sand was made by matching the refractive index of granulated fused quartz with a pore fluid made of either sucrose or mineral oil. Tests were conducted by shooting spherical projectiles at speeds of up to 200 m/s into the transparent soil and recording the depth of penetration non-intrusively, when possible. Analysis using existing physical and empirical models was conducted to see how well these models describe the penetration event into fused quartz and to provide best fit parameters. Adjustments to published models have also been derived which result in adequate correlations to the experimental data.