T-34 vs FACE-HARDENED ARMOUR SIMULATION | 76mm BR-350B vs H | Armour Penetration Simulation

Face hardened armour (FHA) was common on early war German tanks; this type of armour featured an extremely hard front face, with the remainder of the plate being tougher and more ductile. The intention of this was to cause projectiles to shatter or deform on impact, dissipating their energy, instead of the armour having to deform and absord the energy. The simulation presents the 76mm BR-350B projectile, with hardening upto 450BHN at the nose, impacting the Panzer IV H’s 80mm upper plate at a side angle of 15°, from 250m. This is a direct comparison to the previous KV-1 vs Up-Armoured Panzer IV video, which had 80mm total of spaced armour: The spaced armour seems to have performed slightly worse, but by a smaller margin than expected. This may be due to the amount of the projectile which is eroded and broken by the first HHA plates. The FHA has a 5mm portion of 600BHN steel, with the remainder being 350BHN. The bulk is still relatively hard, with low elongation, hence the very noticeable shear bands which form. While the indentation is very small, the plate is very close to failing through plugging (I ran another simulation with the plate strength reduced by ~5% and it pushed through a plug). Amazing Thumbnail Artwork from: Sean Barron