The energy absorbed during the oblique impact of a hard ball against ductile target materials

Abstract

Four ductile target materials were impacted with hardened steel balls over a range of impact velocities (50-190 m/s) and impact angles (15-60°). The energy absorbed by the target material during each impact was measured. It was observed that the magnitude of the energy absorbed is a strong function of both impact velocity and impact angle. Three models, two of them analytical and one numerical, specifically developed for the oblique impact of a sphere onto a plane target and available in the published literature were considered for rationalizing the experimentally obtained energy absorption data. It was concluded on the basis of such a comparison that the numerical model was the most capable with regard to rationalizing the data.