Temperature dependence of the impact response of copper: erosion by melting

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Annealed copper targets were impacted by 5 mm diameter hardened steel spheres at a velocity of 130+or-20 m s-1 and at an impingement angle of 20+or-0.5 degrees . Target temperatures were varied over the range 70-1350K. Evidence for melting was found throughout the temperature range. At low temperatures melting was insufficient to produce detectable mass loss and was only found in localised shear bands. At temperatures within 200K of homogeneous melting, mass losses as great as 0.8% of the impacting sphere were measured. In this latter range, evidence of considerable melting was observed in craters, and deposits of copper were found attached to the spheres. The deposits were composed of unusually small crystallites (grain size approximately=10 mu m) and appeared to have been formed by melting followed by rapid quenching.