Numerical simulation of plugging failure in ballistic penetration

A coupled computational material model of viscoplasticity and ductile damage has been developed and implemented in LS-DYNA. This model gives good agreement between numerical simulations and experimental observations of plugging failure in ballistic penetration, without the use of inverse modelling or predefined defects. However, even if the model constants can be determined from relatively simple uniaxial tensile tests, the computational model is rather comprehensive. In this paper numerical results obtained by using the fully coupled computational model are compared with results obtained from less sophisticated versions of the material model. The differences between the numerical results will be pointed out and discussed, and details from some of the simulations are shown. To validate the accuracy of the computational model, references will be made to experimental observations from gas-gun penetration tests on 8-mm thick Weldox 460 E steel plates. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.