The penetration depth of the earth-penetrating projectile is a basic problem in the design of protection engineering. Scaled testing is an important method to study the penetration law. The size effect between the model test results and the prototype is a problem that must be solved to establish the calculation method of penetration using scaled tests. In this study, the stress and strain state evolution of the rock-like target medium subjected to the penetration of earth-penetrating projectiles and the penetration resistance function of the projectiles were derived using cavity expansion theory. The formula for the caliber coefficient characterizing the size effect was obtained, and a simplified analysis of the nose shape coefficient and caliber coefficient was conducted using curve fitting and Taylor expansion within the penetration velocity range of the conventional earth-penetrating weapons. A practical calculation formula for the penetration depth of conventional earth-penetrating weapons into rock-like media was proposed, whose coefficients can be directly determined by parameters of target and projectiles. The results show that the main influencing factor of the projectile’s penetration resistance is the impedance of the target. The source of the size effect is originated from the fact that the ranges of the target damage zones do not satisfy the geometric similarity law. The nose shape coefficient can be simplified into a linear function of the projectile’s aspect ratio, and the nose shape coefficient of a flat-nosed projectile is 0.57. The caliber coefficient of the projectile is determined by the ratio of the cavity radius of the penetration to the radius of the fracture zone and can be taken as 1.2−1.4 for conventional earth-penetrating weapons. The theoretical calculation formula of penetration depth is in good agreement with experimental results, and thus, has high reliability.

Coupling and stemming coefficients are essential for predicting ground shock magnitude and damage zones from underground explosions, yet their variation with burial depth and dependence on media and explosion types remain insufficiently understood. Experimental and theoretical methods for determining these coefficients in concrete, rock, and soil under both chemical and nuclear explosions were systematically reviewed. Based on collected data from published tests, definitions of different coupling coefficients (energy coupling, ground shock parameter coupling, equivalent yield, and stemming coefficients) were clarified, and conversion relationships among them were derived using energy conservation and wave attenuation principles. The critical burial depth for full coupling was analyzed separately for peak quantities (e.g., peak stress, particle velocity) and integral quantities (e.g., impulse, surface vibration). Experimental results show that peak quantities reach full coupling at a depth approximately equal to the contained explosion cavity radius, which is much shallower than the critical depth for contained explosions. In contrast, impulse and ground motion require depths close to the contained explosion threshold. The coupling energy is proportional to the volume of the damaged zone, and the evolution of coupling coefficients with scaled depth of burial follows a Boltzmann function, requiring only two parameters to define the entire curve. For chemical explosions, the fully coupled equivalent yield coefficient (relative to contained explosions) in concrete, limestone, and soils was quantified, with stemming coefficients ranging from 1.4−1.8 in rocks and 2.4−2.6 in soils. It is concluded that different ground shock parameters exhibit distinct coupling behaviors, challenging the assumption of a universal coupling coefficient. The proposed empirical formulas provide conservative estimates for engineering design, while the underlying mechanisms of free-surface unloading require further quantitative investigation.