Re-visiting the mass-flux model for Explosive Reactive Armor and the effect of plate thickness

Explosive Reactive Armor was originally modeled under the assumption that the plates in the cassettes were very thin. Hence their thickness could be ignored, and the thicknesses of the plates were considered only based on their areal mass density. In particular, it was assumed that the jet-plate interaction was controlled by the plates to jet-mass-flux ratio criteria for a specific jet velocity and diameter. In the present study, we extended this analysis, examining the effect of the variation of the mass-flux along the jet on the disruption effect by the two plates. In addition, we examined the thickness effect of the plates on the plate's effectiveness, replacing the steel plates by low-density materials like aluminum and polycarbonate. The mass-flux model was adjusted to account for the plate-thickness effect. It was found that increasing the thickness of the plate, keeping the areal weight unchanged, slightly increases the overall effectiveness of the cassette, in particular by the forward moving plate interacting with the center and the slow parts of the jet.