The present paper deals with the numerical analysis of the impact and perforation of a high velocity rigid steel spherical projectile through an Aluminum plate AA2014-T652 using the commercial software LS-DYNA. These numerical investigations are performed in the velocity range from 800 m/s to 1300 m/s. The target plate with a thickness of 15mm and the spherical projectile with a diameter of 10mm are modelled using three-dimensional elements (3D) in a Lagrangian formulation. A hydrostatic tensile stress failure model combined with the Johnson and Cook constitutive model is used to highlight the dynamic failure of the target. The different failure mechanisms observed on the Aluminum plate from the moment of impact to full perforation are discussed. The numerical results based on the crater diameter at the front and rear surface of the plate and the dimensions of the penetration channel are compared to the experimental data available in literature.

In this paper, the dynamic response of Aluminum plates with predrilled holes subjected to different intensities of blast loading is studied both experimentally and numerically as to imitate the case where fragments strike and perforate the plates before the load pressure arrives. The blast loading is applied using an Explosive Driven Shock Tube (EDST) [10-12] which ensures a uniformly distributed blast wave on the test specimens. Experiments were carried out for different sizes, positions, and numbers of the predrilled holes in the plates positioned at the end extremity of the tube. Special focus is dedicated to investigate the influence of these parameters on the dynamic response and failure characteristics of plates via the Digital Image Correlation technique (DIC). Numerical simulations were performed in the finite element code LS-DYNA to recreate the plate deformation and the observed phenomena seen in the experiments.