Dependence of impact regime boundaries on the initial temperatures of projectiles and targets

Abstract

Towards higher impact velocities, ballistic events are increasingly determined by the material temperatures. Related effects might range from moderate thermal softening to full phase transition. In particular, it is of great interest to quantify the conditions for incipient or full melting of metals during impact interactions, which result in a transition from still strength-affected to hydrodynamic material behavior. In this work, we investigate to which extent the respective melting thresholds are also dependent on the initial, and generally elevated, temperatures of projectiles and targets before impact. This is studied through the application of a model developed recently by the authors to characterize the transition regime between high-velocity and hypervelocity impact, for which the melting thresholds of materials were used as the defining quantities. The obtained results are expected to be of general interest for ballistic application cases where projectiles or targets are preheated. Such conditions might result, for example, from aerodynamic forces acting onto a projectile during atmospheric flight, explosive shaped-charge-jet formation or armor exposure to environmental conditions. The performed analyses also broaden the scientific understanding of the relevance of temperature in penetration events, generally known since the 1960s, but often not considered thoroughly in impact studies.