An experimental study on the fracture behavior of different aluminium alloys subjected to ballistic impact

Abstract

The present study describes and analyses the experimental results pertinent to the ballistic behaviour of six different series of commercially available aluminium alloys namely, AA 2024, AA 2519, AA 5059, AA5083, AA 6061 and AA 7017 plates. The aluminium alloy plates display large differences in static mechanical properties in terms of strength and ductility. The ballistic resistance of these plates is evaluated by impacting deformable projectiles at a velocity of 830 ± 10 m/s at a normal angle of attack. The results include the observation of the damage area at the front of the aluminium alloy plates. The microstructures and micro-hardness values along the projectile penetration path have been investigated to understand the material deformation behaviour. The adiabatic shear bands have been observed in all the aluminium alloys after post ballistic impacts. From the ballistic testing experiments, it is observed that the AA-7017 plates display higher ballistic resistance among the tested aluminium alloys. The ballistic performance of the aluminium alloy plates has been correlated with their respective mechanical properties and post ballistic microstructure. © 2019 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. Peer-review under responsibility of the ICSI 2019 organizers.