Response of boron carbide subjected to high-velocity impact

This article presents an evaluation of the response of boron carbide (B4C) subjected to impact loading under three different conditions. Condition A is produced by plate-impact experiments where the loading condition is uniaxial strain and the stresses and pressures are high. Under plate-impact loading the material fails at the Hugoniot Elastic Limit (HEL) and the failed material undergoes high confining pressures and relatively small inelastic strains. Condition B is produced by projectile impact onto thick targets where the stresses and pressures are dependent on impact velocity, but they are generally lower than those from plate impact. Under thick-target impact/penetration most of the material fails under compression, the inelastic strains are large and the material appears to exhibit more ductility than under condition A. Lastly, condition C is produced by projectile impact and perforation of thin targets where the stresses and pressures are a combination of compression and tension. Under thin-target perforation the material fails in both tension and compression. The Johnson–Holmquist–Beissel (JHB) constitutive model is used to evaluate the material behavior for each of the three conditions, but it is not possible to accurately reproduce the experimental results of the three conditions with a single set of constants. Instead, three different sets of constants are required to accurately model the three impact conditions. These three models/constants are used to provide insight into the complex response of B4C, and to identify possible mechanisms that are not included in the JHB model.