Impact and Perforation of Mild Steel Pipes by Low Velocity Missiles

Empirical formulae are often used to determine the perforation resistance of plates and shells impacted by missiles travelling at sub-ordinance velocities (25 → 350ms⁻¹). There is little validation data available for missiles travelling at the lower velocities which are more typical of dropped objects. This study has considered the perforation resistance of a 300mm nominal bore steel pipe to low velocity (4.4 → 14.1ms⁻¹) impact. The effects of the missile nose shape and the impact position (1/2, 1/4 and 1/10 span) on the perforation resistance were considered. Comparisons have been made with published empirical perforation formulae, it was found that some predictions of perforation energy significantly differed from the experimental results, however the failure modes found were typical of those seen in other studies.

• INTRODUCTION

• EXPERIMENTAL

• EFFECT OF IMPACT POSITION

• EFFECT OF NOSE SHAPE

• CONCLUSIONS

• References