Aim To study the dynamic failure of the plastic spherical shell impacted by a missile. Methods The deformation mode of spherical shells was given by introducing isometric transformation. The governing equation of motion of the rigid plastic spherical shell was given by energy balance. This equation was solved by using Runge Kutta method. Results The relationships between the impact force, dimple radius, central point deflection and time were obtained. The response time initial velocity, the maximal impact force permanent initial velocity, the central point deflection initial velocity and the dimple radius initial velocity characteristics were respectively plotted. Conclusion A comparison made between the theoretical results and the experimental ones indicates that the two groups of results are in conformity with each other.
