Data-driven prediction of plate velocities and plate deformation of explosive reactive armor

Explosive reactive armor(ERA)is currently being actively developed as a protective system for mobile devices against ballistic threats such as kinetic energy penetrators and shaped-charge jets.Considering mobility,the aim is to design a protection system with a minimal amount of required mass.The efficiency of an ERA is sensitive to the impact position and the timing of the detonation.Therefore,different designs have to be tested for several impact scenarios to identify the best design.Since analytical models are not predicting the behavior of the ERA accurately enough and experiments,as well as numerical simulations,are too time-consuming,a data-driven model to estimate the displacements and deformation of plates of an ERA system is proposed here.The ground truth for the artificial neural network(ANN)is numerical simulation results that are validated with experiments.The ANN approximates the plate positions for different materials,plate sizes,and detonation point positions with sufficient accuracy in real-time.In a future investigation,the results from the model can be used to estimate the interaction of the ERA with a given threat.Then,a measure for the effectiveness of an ERA can be calculated.Finally,an optimal ERA can be designed and analyzed for any possible impact scenario in negligible time.

Research on Protection Capability of Flying-Whip Multifunctional Explosive Reactive Armor

The experimental research on protection capability of the flying-whip multifunctional explosive reactive armor (ERA) was performed, in which the comparison experiment was made on the damage effect of the flying-whip's geometrical figuration, material property and driven velocity on the long-rod armor-piercing-projectile. The moving velocity of the flying-whip driven by different explosives and the pressure attenuation law of shock wave travelling in the back plate were measured respectively with the electric probe method and the manganin piezoresistive gauge technique. The following conclusions based on a great quantity of experimental data were drawn: compared with the sandwich ERA the flying-whip multifunctional ERA has very good protection function against the long-rod armor-piercing-projectile, the shaped charge warhead and the anti-armor tandem warhead. In addition, the composite plate made of the armor-steel and rubber plate can lessen the vibration and shock of the main armor caused by the explosion of the charge..

Criteria for intermittent and continuous disturbance transition of ERA interaction with shaped charge jet

There are two interaction mechanisms between shaped charge jet and thin flying plate driven by explosion, that is, the intermittent and continuous disturbance. Determination of the transition criteria for the intermittent and continuous disturbance is of importance for the penetration calculation of the escaping jet and the design of ERA(explosive reactive armour). In this paper a new criteria was presented based on the analysis of interaction process, and the effects of NATO angle and thickness of flying plate on the disturbance frequency were discussed. It is shown that the critical shaped charge jet velocity increases with the plate thickness and NATO angle, especially increases drastically between 45° and 60°.