Numerical Investigations on the Impact of Hemi Spherically Tipped Projectiles on Thin Plates

Numerical investigations were carried out on 1.27 mm thick 2024-O aluminum plates against hemi spherically tipped nose, steel projectiles, of 12.7 mm diameter and 37.7 gram mass. Three-dimensional numerical simulations of the problem were carried out using finite element code ABAQUS. The ABAQUS/Explicit finite element code, in conjunction with Johnson-Cook elasto-viscoplastic material model, proposed by Lesuer [1] was employed to perform the simulation. The present studies are concerned with the measurement of impact forces and permanent deflections produced by rigid projectiles during contact and perforation of the plates. The numerical results thus obtained were compared with the experimental results obtained by Levy and Goldsmith [2] and a close correlation between the two was found. The results obtained showed a consistent increase in the ballistic resistance of target with an increase in the incidence velocity. The failure mode of the target was also found to be affected by a change in the incidence velocity.