".45" is too generic a description to be useful. You need to specify what loading, bullet weight, bullet type etc. There are a lot of factors which go into proper ammo performance just with factory loads. For example some ammo manufacturers like Speer in their Gold Dot line offer both standard and short barrel loadings.
Then factor in that terminal ballistics testing is something that is easy to do but hard to do correctly such that you get accurate results. Lots of misleading Youtube videos out there.
So does it really matter whether or not it 'expands?" A more pertinent question would be does it over penetrate and is it likely to exit a body ?
The common standard for this is rounds which penetrate between 12' and 18" in FBI spec ballistic gel testing. With all handgun rounds, shot placement is the most significant factor, followed by rounds not exiting the body.
As mentioned there is an ammunition sub forum, in that subforum there are a bunch on "pinned" threads at the top authored by Doctor Gary K Roberts (DocGKR), one of the the preeminent terminal ballistics researchers in the world. He lists factory .45 loading which perform to standard in testing.
Start here: https://pistol-forum.com/showthread....f-Defense-Ammo