On the ballistic performance of Weldox steel plates impacted by blunt projectiles

We present a numerically based study concerning the perforation of high strength Weldox steel plates by blunt projectiles. Our study focuses on an ongoing discrepancy between experimental data for the ballistic limit ve-locities of these plates and their numerical simulation results. We show that this discrepancy can be eliminated by applying a proper failure model for these steels, which accounts for the failure strains at pure shear states. We also highlight several inherent difficulties in the numerical simulations of shear bands, arising from uncertainties in the estimated temperatures inside these narrow bands.

Automated summary

We investigate the perforation of high strength Weldox steel plates by blunt projectiles. The experimental data for the ballistic limit velocities of these plates are found to be inconsistent with numerical simulation results. By employing a suitable failure model that considers the failure strains at pure shear states, we successfully eliminate this inconsistency. We also point out the inherent difficulties in simulating shear bands due to uncertainties in estimating the temperatures within these narrow bands.