The effect of temperature on perforation behavior of 304 austenitic stainless steel plates was investigated experimentally. Perforation tests have been conducted at velocities from 80 to 180 m/s and temperatures between − 163 and 200 °C. Low temperatures were obtained using a specific designed cooling device and the temperature distribution on the specimens was verified to be uniform. Based on the experimental results, the failure mode, the initial-residual velocity curves, the ballistic limit velocities and the energy absorption capacity under different temperatures were analyzed. It was found that petalling was the main failure mode during the perforation process. The average number of petals was three at 20 °C or 200 °C and was increasing continuously to five at − 163 °C. The ballistic limit velocity V bl was also affected by the initial temperature. It increased slightly from 93 m/s at 200 °C to 103 m/s at − 20 °C and then remained constant at lower temperatures. The material showed better energy absorption capacity at low temperatures and this came not only from the temperature sensitivity of the material but also from the strain-induced martensitic transformation effect. According to martensite measurement by X-ray diffraction technique, the martensite fractions along the fracture surface of petals were 87.1%, 66.2%, 52.8% and 32.4% respectively for initial temperatures of − 163 °C, − 60 °C, − 20 °C and 20 °C.

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This paper presents a systematic study of the thermo-viscoplastic behavior of a 304 austenitic stainless steel (ASS). The experiments were conducted over a wide range of strain rates (10 − 3 s − 1 to 3270 s − 1) and temperatures (-163°C to 172°C), for which the deformation behavior of 304 ASS becomes more complex due to the straininduced martensitic transformation (SIMT) effect. Dynamic tests at low/elevated temperatures were conducted using the Hopkinson technique coupled with a cooling device/heating furnace, and temperature distribution within the specimen was verified to be uniform. Experimental results showed that the strain hardening rate of 304 ASS was strongly affected by SIMT effect. For quasi-static tests (10 − 3 s − 1 to 1 s − 1) at low temperatures (-163°C to-20°C), the stress-strain relations exhibited an S-shape and a second strain hardening phenomenon. The strain rate sensitivity and temperature sensitivity of 304 ASS were also different from metallic materials deformed by dislocation glide. Several unexpected phenomena including the negative strain rate sensitivity and the changing temperature sensitivity from quasi-static to dynamic tests were observed. Based on experimental results, an extension of the Rusinek-Klepaczko (RK) model considering SIMT effect was used to simulate the deformation behavior of 304 ASS: it predicted flow stress curves of 304 ASS above-60°C correctly. In addition, to validate the extended RK model and the identified model parameters, numerical simulations of ballistic impact tests of 304 ASS plates at various temperatures were carried out, showing a good agreement with experiments.