Hypervelocity Impact on Cylindrical Pressure Vessels - Experimental Results and Damage Classification

Hypervelocity impact experiments were performed on two types of cylindrical pressure vessels made from an aluminium-magnesium alloy and unalloyed titanium. the purpose of this study was to determine the impact parameters that result in catastrophic rupture of the pressure vessels. To accomplish this, loading conditions and wall stresses were varied for each material. A variety of damage types was observed, ranging from simple front wall perforation, rear wall cratering, spallation, bulging and petalling to partial unzipping and complete rupture of the pressure container. In several experiments failure started at the impact hole. Critical experimental parameters, that separate catastrophic from non-catastrophic damages, were established for the presented target types. A damage classification for hypervelocity impacted cylindrical pressure containers is presented and discussed with respect to previous results. This classification reflects the experimental finding that damage intensity de pends both on wall stresses and impact loading conditions