Journal of Engineering Science and Technology

Vol. 1, No. 2 (2006) 166- 175

School of Engineering, Taylors University College

STRAIN RATE EFFECT ON THE FAILURE STRAIN AND

HARDNESS OF METALLIC ARMOR PLATES SUBJECTED TO
HIGH VELOCITY PROJECTILE IMPACT
QASIM H. SHAH
Kulliyah of Engineering, International Islamic University Malaysia,
Jalan Gombak 53100, Kuala Lumpur, MALAYSIA.
E-mail: hqasim@iiu.edu.my

Abstract
Post impact strain measurements of damaged plates were carried out experimentally
after launching a spherical steel projectile at varying velocities against a fixed thin
plate targets made of copper and steel materials and constrained at their outer
periphery. Penetration or partial perforation of the target plates was achieved for
projectile velocities of 120 m/s. The strain rates achieved during the experiments
varied from 8000s-1 to 15000 s-1 for steel specimens and from 9000 s-1 to 19000 s-1
for copper specimens for the projectile speeds of 68 to 120 m/s. Strain
measurements for static and dynamic loading showed that steel deformation is
excessive before failure resulting in higher failure strain at high strain rates while the
failure strain for copper at high loading rates causes separation of material before
reaching very large strains. At the same loading rates the plate thinning of steel was
recorded to be severe than copper. Hardness values of materials subjected to high
strain rate were measured experimentally showing a strong dependency upon strain
rates calculated by using LS-DYNA software. Strain rate effect on the failure strain
of metals was investigated.

Keywords: Strain rate, Hardness, Perforation, Projectile, Failure strain.

166

Strain Rate Effect on the Failure Strain

167

1. Introduction
Experimental work to determine the mechanical properties of metals at high strain
rates has been carried out extensively [1-5]. The difficulties involved are numerous
because at high strain rates the mechanical properties are not the same as under slow
loading rates. The data obtained for high strain rates could be very valuable for the
design of trauma plates in bullet proof vests, aircraft and missile impact on structures
and buildings including nuclear power plants, crashworthiness of automotive systems,
and space debris impact on space structures placed in orbits. If possible, the costly
experimental work should be replaced by numerical simulations. Towards this end,
certain material properties like yield strength, failure strain, hardness, and elastic
modulus are required to be determined so that precise failure limits could be
predicted. Post impact hardness values can be useful when a structure is subjected
multiple impacts at the same point as can happen on the trauma plate. In many
instances, experiments to measure the yield strength of partially damaged samples are
not possible, therefore if hardness, which can be measured easily, is used to calculate
the yield strength indirectly [6-7], it can be used to predict the impact results of
second and subsequent impacts. In the present work high strain rate effect on the
failure strains and the material hardness have been studied and the results are
reported.

2. Experimental Procedure
A metal plate with 120mm diameter and 0.52mm thickness was secured at its
periphery and a spherical steel projectile was launched from an air gun at varying
velocities. A square shaped grid was stamped on the back surface of the plate. The
experiments were done using steel and copper material plates. The resulting dent
depth was measured for various projectile velocities. The mechanical properties of
steel and copper plates are given in Table 1.

Table.1. Material Properties.

Material

Density
(kg/mm3)

Steel
Copper

7.8e-6
8.8e-6

Elastic
Modulus
(GPa)
205
101

Tangent
Modulus
(GPa)
0.721
0.377

Yield
Strength
(GPa)
0.272
0.195

Poissons
Ratio
0.30
0.35

The square grid that falls exactly behind the spherical projectile and has its center
coinciding with the projectile center is used to measure the plastic strains. In cases
where the square grid does not fall in the center but is slightly eccentric, the change in
the grid line thickness was used to measure the deformed dimensions to calculate the
plastic strains. The back surface of the plate specimen with stamped grids and dent are
shown in Fig.1.

Journal of Engineering Science and Technology

DECEMBER 2006, Vol. 1(2)

168

Q. H. Shah

a. Copper plate

b. Steel plate

Fig.1. Dynamically impacted (120m/s) copper and steel plates with square grids.

Similar specimens were then subjected to a static denting load using a round end
solid cylindrical tool with same diameter as the spherical projectile that is shown in
Fig.2. The static dent was made to nearly the same depth or a little deeper as the one
obtained in dynamic impact testing.

a. Copper plate

b. Steel plate

Fig.2. Static denting test on copper and steel plates.

The above mentioned impact tests were performed at projectile velocities of 68,
77, 88, 97, and 120m/s. The projectile velocity of 120 m/s was found to be the
threshold failure point where complete penetration or partial perforation of the target
plate took place. At this velocity the copper plate was penetrated through but the steel
plate showed a crack initiation at the bulged surface without the projectile passing
through. The resulting plastic strains for static denting and impact tests were recorded.
Plastic strains of damaged tensile test specimens were also recorded for comparison.

Journal of Engineering Science and Technology

DECEMBER 2006, Vol. 1(2)

Strain Rate Effect on the Failure Strain

169

Hardness values of virgin and damaged specimens under both static and impact
tests were measured.

3. Experimental Results
Static denting load displacement curves for Steel and copper specimens are shown in
Fig. 3. For a fixed displacement of 12mm the maximum load for steel is slightly
above 2500 N while for copper it is about 1500 N. This displacement was obtained
with crack initiation in the samples. Comparing to the damage under impact test, it
was found that in static loading the failure strains were significantly higher with small
amount of material failure. The maximum displacement obtained in impact tests
ranged from 7 to 10.30 mm for both materials. The failure strain for static loading is
shown in Fig.4.
Load Displacement Curve for Copper at
Slow Loading

Load Displacement Curve for Steel at

Slow loading
L o a d (N )

L o a d (N )

2000.00
1500.00
1000.00
500.00
0.00
0

10

12

14

3000.00
2500.00
2000.00
1500.00
1000.00
500.00
0.00
0.00

Displacement (mm)

2.00

4.00

6.00

8.00

10.00

12.00

Displacement (mm)

Fig.3. Load displacement data from static denting of and copper steel plates.
As shown in Fig.4., the failure strain for steel at damage initiation is of the order
of 0.4 while it is about 0.6 for copper located in the vicinity of dent peak. The
maximum value is obtained from the peak.
Failure strain for steel and copper tensile tests at slow loading rate are compared
in Fig.5. In tensile tests, maximum failure strain for copper is 0.60 while steel has a
maximum strain value of 0.40.
The failure strain for steel at all loading rates is higher than that for copper plate
specimens. After a projectile velocity of 100m/s a remarkable difference in the failure
strains can be observed. The failure strain for copper remains below 0.40 but for steel
it escalates to a higher value of 0.60 and above. This was particularly observed at
projectile velocities of 120m/s where target plate perforation occurred.
This can be understood in the light of the observation of the change in hardness
values of both materials at high strain rates and the reduction in plate thickness
respectively. Hardness values for virgin plates and damaged samples after projectile
impact were measured. Fig.6. shows the change in hardness values of steel and copper
after impact.
The hardness values for the virgin steel plate were found to be 63.33 HRB
compared to 83.4 HRB for samples subjected to static denting load. In Fig.6. it can be
Journal of Engineering Science and Technology

DECEMBER 2006, Vol. 1(2)

170

Q. H. Shah

seen that at high loading rates the hardness for steel gradually decreases. This
decrease of the projectile velocity range used in the present experiments does not
show a significant variation but on the other hand copper plate hardness experienced a
tremendous increase. Virgin copper plate hardness was observed to be only
14.10HRB while slow denting of the plate produced a value of 48HRB.

Plastic Strain From Static Denting of

Steel

Plastic Strain From Static Denting of

Copper

0.5

0.8

S tra in

S tra in

0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1

0.6
0.4
0.2
0

0
1

Data Points

Data Points

Fig.4. Failure strain measured from steel and copper plate for static denting load
at various

Failure Strain from Impact Tests

Failure Strain from Tensile Tests

Steel

Copper

Steel

0.60

F a ilu re S tra in

F a ilu re S tra in

0.70
0.50
0.40
0.30
0.20
0.10
2.00

4.00

6.00

8.00

10.00

12.00

Copper

0.60
0.50
0.40
0.30
0.20
0.10
0.00
60

Loading Speed (mm/min)

70

80

90

100 110 120 130

Projectile Velocity (m/s)

Fig.5. Plastic strain comparison for steel and copper at static tensile tests and
plate impact loading at high velocities.

Though the hardness values at increasing loading rate do not show any significant
variation, the fact that undamaged plate had a hardness value of only 14.1HRB
explains why the failure strain for this material shows a value of 0.40 at highest
projectile speed that causes the perforation of the target plate. It can be inferred that
due to steep increase in hardness this material failed in a rather brittle manner.
Journal of Engineering Science and Technology

DECEMBER 2006, Vol. 1(2)

Strain Rate Effect on the Failure Strain

Copper Hardness Change after Impact

70

H a rd n e s s (H R B )

H a rd n e s s (H R B )

Steel Hardness Change after Impact

65
60
55
50
45
40
60

70

80

90

100

110

120

171

130

47
45
43
41
39
37
35
60

Projectile Velocity (m/sec)

70

80

90

100

110

120

130

Projectile Velocity (m/sec)

Fig.6. Change in hardness values measured from the impacted samples of steel
and copper at various projectile velocities.

4. Finite Element Analysis

It is difficult to paste strain gages on the back surface of the target plates, to obtain
reasonable strain data, during high velocity impact since this may shatter the strain
gages before they could provide data. It was decided to use numerical simulations
instead. The projectile and the target plate were modeled in ANSYS with the
experimental data obtained from tensile tests on both materials. The model was then
transferred to LSDYNA software to conduct impact simulations. The plate failure is
shown in Fig.7.
In the LSDYNA simulations the spherical projectile was considered to be of rigid
material with no deformations while the plate material model was considered as
plastic kinematics. Stresses, strains, strain rates, and thickness variations during the
impact process were recorded.
For an original plate thickness of 0.52 mm for both materials (steel and copper),
the thickness reduction at maximum displacement were noted. The plate thickness
change showed a very good agreement with experimental work. The strain rate values
at increasing projectile velocities are compared in Fig.8.
The strain rates calculated using LSDYNA were subsequently compared to the failure
strains obtained experimentally as shown in Fig.9.
When assessing the performance of materials subjected to impact loads, it is
important to know their mechanical properties under high strain rates so that failure
could be predicted. In hydrocodes like LSDYNA the metallic material models require
failure strain input. The purpose of this research was also to confirm that the
numerical analysis can simulate the experimental behavior as closely as possible.
Equivalent stress plots at impact are shown in Fig.10. The strain rate effect on
equivalent stress is shown in Fig.11.

Journal of Engineering Science and Technology

DECEMBER 2006, Vol. 1(2)

172

Q. H. Shah

The finite element model for copper could not simulate the impact event at high
strain rates due to some error in data input, therefore the strain rate effect on
equivalent stresses or failure strain may be not reliable at this stage. The model
discrepancies have been identified and another model like Johnson-Cook [8] model
would be implemented in future simulations.

Fig.7. Plate perforation at projectile velocity of 120m/s for steel and copper
target plates.

Strain Rate in Copper Plate for Varying

Projectile Velocities

Strain Rate in Steel Plate for Varying Projectile

Velocities
1.60E+04
1.50E+04

1.90E+04
1.70E+04

1.30E+04

S train /sec

S train /sec

1.40E+04
1.20E+04
1.10E+04
1.00E+04
9.00E+03

1.50E+04
1.30E+04
1.10E+04

8.00E+03

9.00E+03

7.00E+03
60

70

80

90

100

110

120

130

Projectile Velocity(m/sec)

60

70

80

90

100

110

120

130

Projectile Velocity(m/sec)

Fig.8. Strain rates obtained at increasing projectile velocities for steel and copper
samples.

Journal of Engineering Science and Technology

DECEMBER 2006, Vol. 1(2)

Strain Rate Effect on the Failure Strain

Strain Rate Effect on Failure Strain of

Copper

5.20E-01
Failure Strain

F a ilu re S tra in

Strain Rate Effect on Failure Strain of Steel

4.20E-01
3.20E-01
2.20E-01
1.20E-01
8.00E+03

1.00E+04 1.20E+04

173

1.40E+04 1.60E+04

3.50E-01
2.50E-01
1.50E-01
5.00E-02
9.00E+03

1.20E+04

1.50E+04

1.80E+04

Strain/sec

Strain/sec

Fig.9. Strain rate effect on the failure strains of steel and copper.

Von Mises Stress in Copper Plate at

Impact(68m/s)

0.60
0.50
0.40
0.30
0.20
0.10
0.00
0.00

S tress (GP a)

S tre s s (G P a )

Von Mises Stress in Steel Plate at

Impact(68m/s)

0.20

0.40

0.60

0.80

1.00

1.20

0.40
0.35
0.30
0.25
0.20
0.15
0.10
0.05
0.00
0.00

0.20

Time (milli sec)

S tre s s (G P a )

S tre s s (G P a )

0.50
0.40
0.30
0.20
0.10
0.40

0.60

0.80

0.80

1.00

1.20

Von Mises Stress in Copper Plate at

Impact(120m/s)

0.60

0.20

0.60

Time (milli sec)

Von Mises Stress in Steel Plate at

Impact(120m/s)

0.00
0.00

0.40

1.00

1.20

0.40
0.30
0.20
0.10
0.00
0.00

Time (milli sec)

0.20

0.40

0.60

0.80

1.00

1.20

Time (milli sec)

Fig.10. Equivalent stress plots for projectile velocities of 68 and 120m/s for steel
and copper samples.

Journal of Engineering Science and Technology

DECEMBER 2006, Vol. 1(2)

174

Q. H. Shah

Von Mises Stress in Copper Plate at Varying

Strain Rates

Von Mises Stress in Steel Plate at Varying

Strain Rates
4.00E+02

S tre s s (M P a )

S tre s s (M P a )

600.00
550.00
500.00
450.00
8.00E+03

1.00E+04

1.20E+04

1.40E+04

1.60E+04

3.50E+02

3.00E+02

2.50E+02
9.00E+03 1.10E+04 1.30E+04 1.50E+04 1.70E+04 1.90E+04

Strain Rate /sec

Strain /sec

Fig.11. Effect of strain rate on the equivalent stress of steel and copper.

5. Conclusions
Circular plates of 120mm diameter made up of steel and copper with 0.52 mm
thickness were subjected to a spherical projectile(diameter = 8.73mm) impact at
varying velocities. Post impact plastic strains, hardness, and plate thickness reduction
were recorded. The impact event was modeled into LSDYNA code and strain rates
were calculated for various loading speeds. It was found that at high strain rates the
hardness of steel decreases while the copper plate hardness increases. Undamaged
samples of copper plate showed a hardness value of 14.10HRB which is 1/3 of the
hardness obtained at high strain rate. Therefore copper failure experienced brittle
failure. Steel hardness at high strain rates decreased, though not very significantly,
therefore it followed a partially brittle and partially ductile failure process.
Strain rate effect on the failure strain was simulated and a good agreement was
found between them. At high strain rates the failure strain of steel is enhanced
significantly while for copper it has a linear trend (Fig. 9.).

References
1.

2.
3.

Nicola, B. and Pietro, P.M. (2001). Constitutive modeling for ductile metals
behavior incorporating strain rate, temperature and damage mechanics.
International Journal of Impact Engineering, 26, 53-64.
Jordan, T. (2000). Book of Abstracts, International Conference Nuclear Energy
in Central Europe, Bled, Slovenia, Sept. 11-14.
Field, J.E., Walley, S.M., Proud, W.G., Goldrein, H.T. & Siviour, C.R. (2004).
Review of experimental techniques for high rate deformation and shock studies.
International Journal of Impact Engineering, 30, 725-775.

Journal of Engineering Science and Technology

DECEMBER 2006, Vol. 1(2)

Strain Rate Effect on the Failure Strain

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

175

Chiou, S.T., Cheng, W.C. & Lee, W.S. (2005). Strain rate effects on the
mechanical properties of a Fe-Mn-Al alloy under dynamic impact deformations.
Materials Science and Engineering A, 392, 156-162.
Rohr, I., Nahme, H., & Thoma, K. (2005). Material characterization and
constitutive modeling of ductile high strength steel for a wide range of strain
rates. International Journal of Impact Engineering, 31, 401-433.
Tiryakioglu, M., Campbell, J. & Staley, J.T. (2003). On macrohardness testing of
Al-7 wt.% Si-Mg alloys: An evaluation of models for hardness-yield strength
relationships. Journal of Material Science & Engineering, A361, 240-248.
Lu, J., Suresh, S. & Ravichandran,G. (2003). Dynamic indentation for
determining the strain rate sensitivity of metals. Journal of the Mechanics and
Physics of Solids, 51, 1923-1938.
Johnson, G.R. and Cook, W.H. (1983). A constitutive model and data for metals
subjected to large strains, high strain rates and high temperatures. Proceedings of
the 7th International Symposium on Ballistics, The Hague, The Netherlands, 541547

Journal of Engineering Science and Technology

DECEMBER 2006, Vol. 1(2)