Mechanical Properties of Brass under Impact and Perforation Tests for a Wide Range of Temperatures: Experimental and Numerical Approach

The originally performed perforation experiments were extended by compression and tensile dynamic tests reported in this work in order to fully characterize the material tested. Then a numerical model was presented to carry out numerical simulations. The tested material was the common brass alloy. The aim of this numerical study was to observe the behavior of the sample material and to define failure modes under dynamic conditions of impact loading in comparison with the experimental findings. The specimens were rectangular plates perforated within a large range of initial impact velocities V(0) from 40 to 120 m/s and in different initial temperatures T(0). The temperature range for experiments was T(0) = 293 K to 533 K, whereas the numerical analysis covered a wider range of temperatures reaching 923 K. The thermoelasto-viscoplastic behavior of brass alloy was described using the Johnson–Cook constitutive relation. The ductile damage initiation criterion was used with plastic equivalent strain. Both experimental and numerical studies allowed to conclude that the ballistic properties of the structure and the ballistic strength of the sheet plates change with the initial temperature. The results in terms of the ballistic curve V(R) (residual velocity) versus V(0) (initial velocity) showed the temperature effect on the residual kinetic energy and thus on the energy absorbed by the plate. Concerning the failure pattern, the number of petals N was varied depending on the initial impact velocity V(0) and initial temperature T(0). Preliminary results with regard to temperature increase were recorded. They were obtained using an infrared high-speed camera and were subsequently compared with numerical results.