Influence of shear sensitivities of steel projectiles on their ballistic performances

In ballistic penetration, a main failure mode for a projectile is adiabatic shear localization which results in macro cracks developing along ASBs which lead to the fracture of projectile. In this paper, the adiabatic shear sensitivity and ballistic performances of two high strength steels, 30CrMnSi and 35CrWMo, with similar static mechanical properties were investigated. Split Hopkinson Pressure Bar (SHPB) for compression loading and ballistic experiments above the velocity of 1 000 m/s against thick concrete targets were performed. The SHPB and ballistic experimental results showed that the 30CrMnSi steel exhibits more adiabatic shear sensitivity, compared with the 35CrWMo steel. Even though these two steels have similar static mechanical properties, the 35CrWMo steel projectile exhibits better penetration performance than the 30CrMnSi projectile due to different adiabatic shear sensitivities.