Ballistic Performance of Light Weight Magnesium (AZ31B) and Aluminium (AL 6061) Plates Using Numerical Method

Abstract

Ballistic performance of lightweight Aluminium (Al6061) and Magnesium (AZ31B) plates has been determined using numerical method. In recent days, Aluminium and Magnesium plates are widely used in various structures because of their light weight and low density. Magnesium is 33% lighter than Aluminium and 77% lighter than Steel whereas Aluminium is one-third the weight of Steel. In the present work, the numerical ballistic performance has been investigated for different projectile velocity using ABAQUS finite element code to understand the impact behaviour, energy-absorbing capability and failure modes. The conical-shaped projectile was used and the plate thickness for both alloys was kept constant. The investigation has been done with three different velocities such as 100, 400 and 800 m/s. For the constant volume of Magnesium and Aluminium targets considered, lower depth of penetration and higher ballistic performance was observed for Magnesium target. The simulation result was verified by conducting a low-velocity impact test on the Gas Gun Test Setup and a good correlation was observed.