Perforation Behavior of 304 Stainless Steel Plates at Various Temperatures

The effect of temperature on perforation behavior of 304 austenitic stainless steel plates was investigated experimentally. Perforation tests have been conducted at velocities from 80 to 180 m/s and temperatures between − 163 and 200 °C. Low temperatures were obtained using a specific designed cooling device and the temperature distribution on the specimens was verified to be uniform. Based on the experimental results, the failure mode, the initial-residual velocity curves, the ballistic limit velocities and the energy absorption capacity under different temperatures were analyzed. It was found that petalling was the main failure mode during the perforation process. The average number of petals was three at 20 °C or 200 °C and was increasing continuously to five at − 163 °C. The ballistic limit velocity V_bl was also affected by the initial temperature. It increased slightly from 93 m/s at 200 °C to 103 m/s at − 20 °C and then remained constant at lower temperatures. The material showed better energy absorption capacity at low temperatures and this came not only from the temperature sensitivity of the material but also from the strain-induced martensitic transformation effect. According to martensite measurement by X-ray diffraction technique, the martensite fractions along the fracture surface of petals were 87.1%, 66.2%, 52.8% and 32.4% respectively for initial temperatures of − 163 °C, − 60 °C, − 20 °C and 20 °C.