Effect of projectile hardness on deformation and fracture behavior in the Taylor impact test

The ballistic perforation performance of a kinetic energy projectile would be much more influenced by the projectile’s deformation during the impact process. A projectile may suffer from large deformation and even fracture as more and more advanced materials are used as resistant components. A comparison investigation was presented in this study concerning the deformation and fracture behavior of kinetic energy projectiles manufactured from 38CrSi steel of two different hardness values. Flat-nosed projectiles were fired in a two-stage compressed gun test facility against hard steel plates within the velocity range of 200–600 m/s. The impact process was monitored by a high-speed camera. Experimental results showed that, for the soft projectiles there are three deformation and fracture modes, i.e., mushrooming, shear cracking and petalling, and that for the hard projectiles there are also three modes, mushrooming, shearing cracking and fragmentation.