Enhancing puncture resistance in critical applications: A combined experimental and numerical approach

The qualification of materials for puncture resistance is essential for applications like pressure vessels and transport containers, particularly for the safe transport of radioactive materials. International regulations, set forth by organizations such as the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the Atomic Energy Regulatory Commission (AERB), mandate the design of transport packages capable of withstanding various accident scenarios, including puncture, fire, impact, and immersion, to ensure the safety and integrity of radioactive material transport. This paper establishes a correlation between puncture energy ( E ) required to penetrate stainless steel and mild steel plates, both with and without lead backing, as a function of plate thickness ( t ) and punch diameter ( d ). The simulation of strain and damage caused by punch impact is carried out within the elastoplastic region of structural materials, with a focus on the kinetic strengthening of the material. Abaqus finite element software is employed for numerical simulations, with model parameters derived from experimental stress-strain flow curve data using a curve-fitting technique. Dynamic compression experiments were conducted at the Refueling Technology Division (RTD) in the Bhabha Atomic Research Center (BARC) across a range of strain rates from 600 <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline" overflow="scroll"> <mml:mrow> <mml:msup> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi>s</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> <mml:mrow> <mml:mo>−</mml:mo> <mml:mn>1</mml:mn> </mml:mrow> </mml:msup> </mml:mrow> </mml:math> to 1750 <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline" overflow="scroll"> <mml:mrow> <mml:msup> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi>s</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> <mml:mrow> <mml:mo>−</mml:mo> <mml:mn>1</mml:mn> </mml:mrow> </mml:msup> </mml:mrow> </mml:math> at room temperature, using a Split Hopkinson Pressure bar. Additionally, drop weight tower (DWT) experiments were performed at RTD in the BARC facility to calibrate numerical simulations. These experiments were carried out on both bare and leaded stainless steel (SS304L) and mild steel (SA516Gr70) plates.