Bending of Long Steel and Aluminium Rods during end Impact with a Rigid Target

Bless and Barber (1) ‖ have shown that rod projectiles can be affected by the propagation of bending deformation along their lengths when they strike rigid targets at sub-ordnance velocities. Experiments are described in which a range of different modes of deformation are identified for both normally and obliquely incident steel and aluminium rods of length to diameter ratio 24 : 1. The results are discussed from the point of view of classical dynamic structural plasticity.