Quasi-static perforation of thin aluminium plates

This paper presents an experimental and numerical investigation on the quasi-static perforation of aluminium plates. In the tests, square plates were mounted in a circular frame and penetrated by a cylindrical punch. A full factorial design was used to investigate the effects of varying plate thickness, boundary conditions, punch diameter and nose shape. Based on the results obtained, both the main and interaction effects on the maximum force, displacement at fracture and energy absorption until perforation were determined. The perforation process was then computer analysed using the nonlinear finite element code LS-DYNA. Simulations with axisymmetric elements, brick elements and shell elements were conducted. Quasi-static, isothermal versions of the Johnson–Cook constitutive relation and fracture criterion were used to model the material behaviour. Good qualitative agreement was in general found between the experimental results and the numerical simulations. However, some quantitative differences were observed, and the reasons for these are discussed.