Experimental and numerical investigations on the behavior of steel plates and structures under impact loading

Abstract
Experiments were performed with a high energy drop weight testing machine using a four ton drop weight which falls from a maximum height of 1 m and results in a total impact energy of 40 kJ. Target plates of 5 mm in thickness and 500 mm in diameter were impacted with a hemispherical punch. The force was registered by strain gages on punch. A full field strain measurement was applied on the tension side using two high speed cameras. The evaluation of the strain field was carried out with the speckle photography technique. The effect of cracks and weldings on the deformation and failure behavior was studied using pre-cracked disks and plates with welding web. The failure of the plates was measured using the high speed camera and also in the force signal. Numerical simulations of the tested parts were performed using an explicit finite element code. The required material properties were obtained from high strain rate tensile testing on smooth and notched specimens. A comparison of the experimental results with the numerical computations shows a good agreement.