The interaction between a shaped charge jet and a single moving plate

Reactive armour is a very efficient add-on armour against shaped charge threats.Explosive reactive armour consists of one or several plates that are accelerated by an explosive.Similar but less violent acceleration of plates can also be achieved in a completely inert reactive armour.To be efficient against elongated jets,the motion of the plates needs to be inclined against the jet such that a sliding contact between the jet and the plates is established.This sliding contact causes a deflection and thinning of the jet.Under certain circumstances,the contact will become unstable,leading to severe disturbances on the jet.These disturbances will drastically reduce the jet penetration performance and it is therefore of interest to study the conditions that leads to an unstable contact.Previous studies on the interaction between shaped charge jets and flyer plates have shown that it is mainly the forward moving plate in an explosive reactive armour that is effective in disturbing the jet.This is usually attributed to the higher plate-to-jet mass flux ratio involved in the collision of the forward moving plate compared to the backward moving plate.For slow moving plates,as occurs in inert reactive armour,the difference in mass flux for the forward and backward moving plate is much lesser,and it is therefore of interest to study if other factors than the mass flux influences on the protection capability.In this work,experiments have been performed where a plate is accelerated along its length,interacting with a shaped charge jet that is fired at an oblique angle to the plate’s normal,either against or along the plate’s velocity.The arrangement corresponds to a jet interacting with a flyer plate from a reactive armour,with the exception that the collision velocity is the same for both types of obliquities in these experiments.The experiments show that disturbances on the jet are different in the two cases even though the collision velocities are the same.Numerical simulations of the interaction support the observation.The difference is attributed to the character of the contact pressure in the interaction region.For a backward moving plate,the maximum contact pressure is obtained at the beginning of the interaction zone and the contact pressure is therefore higher upstream than downstream of the jet while the opposite is true for a forward moving plate.A negative interface pressure gradient with respect to the jet motion results in a more stable flow than a positive,which means that the jet-plate contact is more stable for a backward moving plate than for a forward moving plate.A forward moving plate is thus more effective in disturbing the jet than a backward moving plate,not only because of the higher jet to plate mass flux ratio but also because of the character of the contact with the jet.

Experimental and numerical study on the influence of shaped charge liner cavity filing on jet penetration characteristics in steel targets

Penetration characteristic(size and shape of penetration craters made in high hardness ARMSTAL 30PM steel) of shaped charge jets formed after detonations of modified PG-7VM warheads was analyzed in the article. Modifications consisted in removing the frontal part of the grenade(fuse, ballistic cap and conductive cone) and introducing of the liner cavity filling made of polyacetal copolymer POM-C. The filings in the form of solid cones with three different heights(33%, 66% and 100% of H-the height of original PG-7VM liner) were placed inside of the hollow cone shaped charge liner. As opposed to the vast majority of previously published works(in which warhead optimization studies were focused on increasing of the depth of penetration in rolled homogeneous armor steel) the main aim of the presented modifications was to maximize the damage ratio(diameters of craters, inlet and outlet holes) of target perforated by shaped charge jet at the cost of the loss of part of the jet penetration capability. According to the best knowledge of the authors such approach to the use of the old PG-7VM warheads has not been analyzed so far. Taking into consideration high stock levels of PG-7VM warheads, and the fact that they are continuously being replaced by more efficient and more sophisticated high-explosive anti-tank warheads, it seems reasonable to look for alternate applications of the warheads withdrawn from the service. Thanks to the introduction of proposed modifications the warheads could be used by special forces or other assault units as directional mines or statically detonated cutting shaped charges as well as by combat engineers as universal charges used in various types of engineering or sapper works. The research included experimental penetration tests and their numerical reproduction in the LS-Dyna software with the simulation methodology defined and validated in previous works of the authors.Small differences(average error = 10-20%) were identified between the experimental and numerical results(dimensions of craters made in steel targets were compared) what confirmed the reliability of the modelling methodology and enabled its use for further optimization of the shapes of fillings. Within the analyzed variants of warheads modifications maximum diameters of penetration craters were obtained for the filling of the height of h = 2/3H. The diameters of holes in individual steel plates were increased by 164%, 70%, 65%(for the first, second and third plate, respectively) in relation to the variant without filling. The results of the study indicated that with the use of different materials of fillings and their various heights it is possible to control the shape of penetration craters pierced in the steel targets.

Influence of a liquid-filled compartment structure on the incoming shaped charge jet stability

Liquid-filled compartment structure consists of a bulk steel plate with matrix blind holes which are filled with liquid and a steel front plate to seal up the liquid with rings and bolts.The liquid-filled compartment structure can resist the shaped charge warhead effectively.This paper presents experimental and theoretical investigations of the penetration ability of the residual shaped charge jet emerging from the liquid-filled compartment structure after the penetration process at different impact angles.On the basis of shock wave propagation theory,the influence of the liquid-filled compartment structure on jet stability is analysed.The interferences of the liquid backflow caused by a reflected shock wave and a back plate on jet stability under different impact angles are also examined.In addition,the range of the disturbed velocity segments of the jet at different impact angles and the penetration ability of the residual jet are obtained.A theoretical model is validated against the experimental penetration depths.

Investigate the effects of magnetic fields on the penetration ability of a shaped charge jet at different standoffs

The influence of a magnetic field on the stability of a shaped charge jet is experimentally investigated at standoffs of 490,650 and 800 mm.The experimental results without and with the magnetic field are compared in terms of the shaped charge jet form,stability and penetration ability.A theoretical model based on one-dimension fluid dynamics is then developed to assess the depth of penetration of the shaped charge at those three standoffs and magnetic conditions.The results show that the penetration capability can be enhanced in more than 70%by the magnetic field.The theoretical calculations are compared with the experimental results with reasonably good correlation.In addition,the parameters introduced in the theory are discussed together with the experiments at three standoffs studied.

Analysis on damage characteristics and detonation performance of solid rocket engine charge subjected to jet

To further explore the damage characteristics and impact response of the shaped charge to the solid rocket engine(SRE) in storage or transportation, protective armor was designed and the shelled charges model(SCM)/SRE with protective armor impacting by shaped charge tests were conducted. Air overpressures at 5 locations and axial acceleration caused by the explosion were measured, and the experimental results were compared with two air overpressure curves of propellant detonation obtained by related scholars. Afterwards, the finite element software AUTODYN was used to simulate the SCM impacted process and SRE detonation results. The penetration process and the formation cause of damage were analyzed. The detonation performance of TNT, reference propellant, and the propellant used in this experiment was compared. The axial acceleration caused by the explosion was also analyzed.By comprehensive comparison, the energy released by the detonation of this propellant is larger, and the HMX or Al particles contained in this propellant are more than the reference propellant, with a TNT equivalent of 1.168-1.196. Finally, advanced protection armor suggestions were proposed based on the theory of woven fabric rubber composite armor(WFRCA).

Theoretical and numerical simulation study on jet formation and penetration of different liner structures driven by electromagnetic pressure

The use of a shaped liner driven by electromagnetic force is a new means of forming jets. To study the mechanism of jet formation driven by electromagnetic force, we considered the current skin effect and the characteristics of electromagnetic loading and established a coupling model of "ElectriceMagnetic eForce" and the theoretical model of jet formation under electromagnetic force. The jet formation and penetration of conical and trumpet liners have been calculated. Then, a numerical simulation of liner collapse under electromagnetic force, jet generation, and the stretching motion were performed using an ANSYS multiphysics processor. The calculated jet velocity, jet shape, and depth of penetration were consistent with the experimental results, with a relative error of less than 10%. In addition, we calculated the jet formation of different curvature trumpet liners driven by the same loading condition and obtained the influence rule of the curvature of the liner on jet formation. Results show that the theoretical model and the ANSYS multiphysics numerical method can effectively calculate the jet formation of liners driven by electromagnetic force, and in a certain range, the greater the curvature of the liner is, the greater the jet velocity is.

Penetration performance of W/Cu double-layer shaped charge liners

Two kinds of W/Cu double-layer shaped charge liner（SCL） were prepared by chemical vapor deposition（CVD） combined with electroforming technique： A SCL with W inner layer and Cu outer layer, B SCL with Cu inner layer and W outer layer. The penetration properties of A and B SCLs were researched. The results show that the two SCLs can form continuous jet and the tip velocities of A and B jets are 7.4 and 6.3 km s^（-1）, respectively. The kinetic energy density（5.3 9 1011 J m-3） of A jet tip increases by 194.4 %compared with that（1.8 9 1011 J m-3） of B jet tip. B jet,however, exhibits deeper penetration depth at the same experimental conditions. The chemical component and microstructure of the area nearby the ballistic perforation were researched. Component analysis shows that both the jets are formed only from inner layer metal. Microstructure analysis shows that martensite and intermetallic form around ballistic perforation penetrated by A SCL due to the intensive interaction between W jet and steel target. The two kinds of newly formed ultrahard phases also hinder the jet from penetrating target further. As a result of relatively alleviative interaction between Cu jet and target, only solid solution rather than ultrahard phases forms around ballistic perforation penetrated by B SCL.