Parametric study of ductile crack propagation in aluminium panels

Experiments with metallic panels subjected to impact loading have been perf ormed to provide data for parametric study of ductile crack propagation. Pa nels made of aluminium alloy 2014 and size 300x120x3 mm, subjected to unifo rm tensile loading across their width, were impacted with a projectile appr oaching perpendicularly at 30 ms(-1) in order to induce crack propagation. Transient data recorders and a high-speed camera were used to record the da ta required for comparison with results of numerical modelling. A parametri c study was performed to determine the material parameters that could not b e measured accurately in experiments but whose values were essential for ob taining adequate predictions of crack propagation velocity by means of fini te element analysis. A crack opening angle (COA) criterion (2D analysis, AB AQUS) and a damage mechanics criterion (3D analysis, LS-DYNA) were compared .