WHAT IF TWO HE SHELLS COLLIDED | Tiger I vs T-34-85 High Explosive Shell Collision Simulation

The simulation presents the result of a Tiger I’s 88mm HE shell impacting a T-34-85’s 85mm HE shell in mid-air. While incredibly unlikely to occur, it makes for a very interesting technically isn’t impossible. Armour Piercing shells are normally the focus of this channel, and armoured vehicle discussions in general, however High Explosive shells are extremely important to a tank. These shells give a tank it’s main anti-personnel and anti-stucture capabilities, due to the large blast and shrapnel generated upon detonation. Both fuses are point detonating (no delay) in this simulation: the German fuse has been modelled as a simplified A.Z. 23/28 percussion fuse, set to super-quick detonation (ohne versögerung, O.V.), while the Soviet KTM-1 fuse is already point-detonating. The 88mm Sprgr. L/4,5 features 785g of high explosive, while the 85mm O-365K contains 776g of HE (based on the diagrams the shells were modelled from). The impact velocities are 800m/s and 780m/s for the 88mm and 85mm shells respectively, corresponding to a range of ~400m between the tanks. For reference, each red particle is about equivalent to the smallest birdshot pellet size. P.S: The projectile diagrams have been posted on the community tab.