The Ballistic Behavior of High Strength, Low Alloy-100 Steel at Sub-zero Temperatures

The ballistic response of the high strength, low alloy (HSLA-100) steel at ambient and temperatures of -400, -800 and -1960°C is investigated in this work. Lambert-jonas equation is used to fit the experimental results into a curve. The effect of quenching on ballistic behavior of HSLA 100 is also studied. The experiments are conducted on 3mm thick rectangular specimens impacted by blunt tip projectiles. The results indicate that for the as-received material, the ballistic limit is nearly the same for ambient and -400°C temperatures, but increases significantly by 30% and 40% for 800 and - 1960°C temperatures, respectively. The same trend is observed for the quenched specimens. However, the increase of ballistic limit is lower for the quenched specimens and is 16% and 30% for -800 and - 1960°C temperatures, respectively. The ballistic test was also simulated using Ls-dyna hydrocode to examine the effect of parameters such as the specimen’s thickness, the projectile’s tip shape and mass on the ballistic limit of the materials.