Armor & Simulation Setup

Relative Armor Thickness

When a plate is inclined, the projectile must pass through more material than the physical plate thickness. The line-of-sight (LoS) distance — what the penetrator actually traverses — grows with inclination. This is the core principle behind sloped armor.

Angle convention

Both angles are measured clockwise from the reference position shown in the diagram. Armor angle α starts at 0° (plate perfectly vertical) and rotates the plate top away from the projectile. Impact angle θ starts at 0° (projectile perfectly horizontal) and dips the nose downward. The valid range for both is 0°–80°.

LoS formula

The combined angle between the projectile and the plate inward normal is |α - θ|:

When the impact angle is 0° this reduces to LoS = t / cos(α).

Examples (α only, θ = 0°)

• 0° — LoS = 1.00 × t (face-on)
• 30° — LoS ≈ 1.15 × t
• 45° — LoS ≈ 1.41 × t
• 60° — LoS = 2.00 × t  (T-34 front hull)
• 72° — LoS ≈ 3.24 × t  (IS-3 pike nose)
• 80° — LoS ≈ 5.76 × t — upper limit

Simulation End Time

In explicit dynamics simulations of ballistic events the termination time must cover the full penetration event. Too short cuts off the result; too long wastes compute budget.

Estimation formula

A safety factor SF accounts for velocity loss and material deformation:

Results

End time is shown in ms, μs, and s simultaneously — pick whichever matches your solver's input unit system.

• g·mm·ms or t·mm·s systems → ms
• g·mm·μs blast systems → μs
• SI kg·m·s → s

Safety factor guidance

• 1.2 — tight, rigid targets, short events
• 1.3 — standard penetration case
• 1.5 — significant deformation expected