Hypersonic impact flash characteristics of a long-rod projectile collision with a thin plate target

Impact flash occurs when objects collide at supersonic speeds and can be used for real-time damage assessment when weapons rely on kinetic energy to destroy targets.However,the mechanism of impact flash remains unclear.A series of impact flash experiments of flat-head long-rod projectiles impacting thin target plates were performed with a two-stage light gas gun.The impact flash spectra for 6061 aluminum at 1.3e3.2 km/s collision speeds were recorded with a high-speed camera,a photoelectric sensor,and a time-resolved spectrometer.The intensity of the impact flash exhibited a pulse characteristic with time.The intensity(I)increased with impact velocity(V0)according to IfVn 0,where n?4.41 for V0>2 km/s.However,for V0<2 km/s,n?2.21,and the intense flash duration is an order of magnitude less than that of higher V0.When V0>2 km/s,a continuous spectrum(thermal radiation background)was observed and increased in intensity with V0.However,for V0<2 km/s,only atomic line spectra were detected.There was no aluminum spectral lines for V0<2 km/s,which indicated that it had not been vaporized.The initial intense flash was emission from excited and ionized ambient gases near the impact surface,and had little relationship with shock temperature rise,indicating a new mechanism of impact flash.

A numerical simulation method of natural fragment formation and injury to human thorax

Objective:Fragment injury is a type of blast injury that is becoming more and more common in military campaigns and terrorist attacks.Numerical simulation methods investigating the formation of natural fragments and injuries to biological targets are expected to be developed.Methods:A cylindrical warhead model was established and the formation process of natural fragments was simulated using the approach of tied nodes with failure through the explicit finite element(FE)software of LS-DYNA.The interaction between the detonation product and the warhead shell was simulated using the fluidestructure interaction algorithm.A method to simulate the injury of natural fragments to a biological target was presented by transforming Lagrange elements into smooth particle hydrodynamics(SPH)particles after the natural fragments were successfully formed.A computational model of the human thorax was established to simulate the injury induced by natural fragments by the node-to-surface contact algorithm with erosion.Results:The discontinuous velocities of the warhead shell at different locations resulted in the formation of natural fragments with different sizes.The velocities of natural fragments increased rapidly at the initial stage and slowly after the warhead shell fractured.The initial velocities of natural fragments at the central part of the warhead shell were the largest,whereas those at both ends of the warhead shell were the smallest.The natural fragments resulted in bullet holes that were of the same shape as that of the fragments but slightly larger in size than the fragments in the human thorax after they penetrated through.Stress waves propagated in the ribs and enhanced the injury to soft tissues;additionally,ballistic pressure waves ahead of the natural fragments were also an injury factor to the soft tissues.Conclusion:The proposed method is effective in simulating the formation of natural fragments and their injury to biological targets.Moreover,this method will be beneficial for simulating the combined injuries of natural fragments and shock waves to biological targets.