A Study on the Large Ductile Deformations and Perforation of Mild Steel Plates Struck by a Mass—Part I: Experimental Results

Abstract

An experimental study is reported on the ductile deformation and perforation of plates struck at the center by solid cylindrical projectiles having the longitudinal axis normal to the plate surface. The plates, which are made from 4 to 8-mm-thick mild steel sheet, are fully clamped around a circular boundary and are struck by projectiles having blunt ends and traveling with impact velocities within the range 7.7–118.9 m/s. Comparisons are made in Part II with the static perforation behavior and with previously published experimental results and several empirical equations for the impact case. A new empirical equation, which retains the influence of the impact velocity on the perforation energy, is also proposed in Part II.