Low-velocity penetration behavior of ice by slender steel projectiles with different noses

Abstract

The penetration behavior of ice has attracted great attention in recent years. In this paper, the penetration behavior of semi-infinite polycrystalline ice by slender projectiles with different ogival noses under impact velocities ranging from 39.5 to 88.5 m/s is studied by experiments and continuum-discontinuum element method (CDEM) simulations. Both the experimental and simulation results showed that with increasing impact velocity, the ice damage transforms from a crater mode to a crater-tunnel mode, and both the penetration depth and crater diameter increase accordingly. The critical velocity for the damage mode transition decreases and the penetration depth increases with increasing the sharpness of projectile nose. However, the crater diameter barely changes with the projectile nose. The maximum deceleration of projectile decreases as the projectile nose sharpens or the impact velocity decreases. In addition, the dynamic cavity expansion model is applied to calculate the penetrating resistance of projectile during tunnel stage. The discrepancy between the theoretical and simulated maximum deceleration is less than 13%, demonstrating the applicability of cavity expansion model for describing penetration behavior of ice under the present impact velocity range. This paper reveals the failure behavior of ice under various impact conditions and advances the understanding of penetration behavior of ice in engineering applications.