Numerical prediction of fracture in the Taylor test

A flat-nosed cylinder moving at a sufficiently high impact velocity in the classical Taylor test will always fracture. In this paper, fracture phenomena and fracture mechanisms in the Taylor test are investigated numerically based on a recently developed ductile fracture locus with the cut-off value for the negative stress triaxiality at −1/3. The impact velocity of the projectile ranges from 240 m/s to 600 m/s. The lower velocity is applied to a less ductile 2024-T351 aluminum alloy cylinder while the higher velocity is introduced for more ductile Weldox 460 E steel. Three distinct fracture modes are recreated numerically: the confined fracture inside the cylinder, the shear cracking on the lateral surface, and the petalling, all of which are consistent with experimental results presented in the open literature. It is found that a more ductile cylinder tends to fail by petalling while a less ductile one by shear cracking. Confined fracture is a common failure mode for both materials, which occurs in a wide range of the impact velocity. The ductile fracture criterion with the cut-off value predicts realistic fracture patterns for short cylinders deforming predominantly under compression.