Plastic deformation and ductile fracture of L907A ship steel at increasing strain rate and temperature

A combined theoretical, numerical, and experimental approach is adopted to systematically characterize the plastic deformation and ductile fracture behaviors of L907A low-alloy ship steel widely used in ship construction, with the effects of strain rate and thermal softening duly accounted for. A mixed Swift-Voce hardening model coupled with strain rate and temperature-dependent terms is proposed, while the Hosford-Coulomb model of ductile fracture is modified by introducing temperature-dependent term to account for the effect of thermal softening. To calibrate the parameters appearing in the constitutive models, dynamic uniaxial tensile tests at varying strain rates (0.001 -5200 s- 1) and quasi-static uniaxial tensile tests at varying temperatures (20 -800 degrees C) are separately performed, with the coupling between strain rate and temperature effects ignored. The calibrated plasticity and ductile fracture models are numerically implemented with the method of finite elements (FE), and their applicability to practical applications is validated against experimental results of ballistic impacts. Normal and oblique impacts on L907A target plates with conical, hemispherical, and blunt projectiles are considered. Good agreement between FE simulation results of plastic deformation and ductile fracture modes and those measured experimentally is achieved, thus demonstrating the viability of the established plasticity and fracture models of L907A steel for applications in complex ballistic impact scenarios.