Experimental and numerical investigation on alternatives to sandy gravel

The NATO agreement STANAG 4569 defines the protection levels for the occupants of logistic and light armored vehicle.The Allied Engineering Publication,AEP-55,Volume 2 document outlines the test conditions for underbelly improvised explosive device(IEDs),which must be buried in water-saturated sandy gravel.The use of sandy gravel has some drawbacks,for instance reproducibility,time consumption,and cost.This paper focuses on the investigation of four alternatives to sandy gravel,which could produce similar specific and cumulative impulses:a concrete pot filled with water,a concrete pot filled with quartz sand,a steel pot without filling and a concrete pot filled with glass spheres(diameter 200μm—300μm)and different water contents.The impulses are measured with a ring technology developed at the Fraunhofer EMI.A numerical soil model based on the work of Marrs,2014 and Fi serov a,2006 and considering the soil moisture was used to simulate the experiments with glass spheres at different water contents,showing much better agreement with the experiments than the classical Laine&Sandvik model,even for high saturation levels.These results can be used to create new test conditions at original scale that are more cost-effective,more reproducible and simpler to manage in comparison to the current tests carried out with STANAG sandy gravel.

Dependence of impact regime boundaries on the initial temperatures of projectiles and targets

Towards higher impact velocities,ballistic events are increasingly determined by the material temperatures.Related effects might range from moderate thermal softening to full phase transition.In particular,it is of great interest to quantify the conditions for incipient or full melting of metals during impact interactions,which result in a transition from still strength-affected to hydrodynamic material behavior.In this work,we investigate to which extent the respective melting thresholds are also dependent on the initial,and generally elevated,temperatures of projectiles and targets before impact.This is studied through the application of a model developed recently by the authors to characterize the transition regime between high-velocity and hypervelocity impact,for which the melting thresholds of materials were used as the defining quantities.The obtained results are expected to be of general interest for ballistic application cases where projectiles or targets are preheated.Such conditions might result,for example,from aerodynamic forces acting onto a projectile during atmospheric flight,explosive shapedcharge-jet formation or armor exposure to environmental conditions.The performed analyses also broaden the scientific understanding of the relevance of temperature in penetration events,generally known since the 1960s,but often not considered thoroughly in impact studies.

Extension of Flow Behaviour and Damage Models for Cast Iron Alloys with Strain Rate Effect

Cast iron alloys with low production cost and quite good mechanical properties are widely used in the automotive industry.To study the mechanical behavior of a typical ductile cast iron(GJS-450)with nodular graphite,uni-axial quasi-static and dynamic tensile tests at strain rates of 10^(-4),1,10,100,and 250 s^(-1)were carried out.In order to investigate the influence of stress state on the deformation and fracture parameters,specimens with various geometries were used in the experiments.Stress strain curves and fracture strains of the GJS-450 alloy in the strain rate range of 10^(-4)to 250 s^(-1)were obtained.A strain rate-dependent plastic flow model was proposed to describe the mechanical behavior in the corresponding strain-rate range.The available damage model was extended to take the strain rate into account and calibrated based on the analysis of local fracture strains.Simulations with the proposed plastic flow model and the damage model were conducted to observe the deformation and fracture process.The results show that the strain rate has obviously nonlinear effects on the yield stress and fracture strain of GJS-450 alloys.The predictions with the proposed plastic flow and damage models at various strain rates agree well with the experimental results,which illustrates that the rate-dependent plastic flow and damage models can be used to describe the mechanical behavior of cast iron alloys at elevated strain rates.The proposed plastic flow and damage models can be used to describe the deformation and fracture analysis of materials with similar properties.

Measurement of the spatial specific impulse distribution due to buried high explosive charge detonation

Buried high explosive(HE) charges represent a high threat to military vehicles. The detonation of these charges can lead to significant momentum transfer onto vehicles and their occupants. A detailed understanding of the physical processes involved in the loading of vehicle structures is necessary for an optimization of effective countermeasures and protection systems. A quantitative description of the local momentum distribution on the vehicle underbody due to the detonation process is of special importance. In the following, a new test setup is presented that allows the experimental determination of the specific impulse distribution. It is based on a ring arrangement where the elements are nested into each other and the velocity of each ring is correlated with the local specific impulse at its position.The momentum transfer to a vehicle depends on a number of influencing factors such as: charge mass,embedding material(e.g. sand, gravel, clay), density, water content, saturation, depth of burial, ground clearance and vehicle shape. The presented technology is applied to quantify the influence of the embedding material(alluvial sand, quartz sand), the burial depth and the water content on the local specific impulse distribution. The obtained data can be used as initial condition for the numerical simulation of occupant safety assessment and as input for empirical modeling of momentum transfer on structures.

Experimental study about the influence of adhesive stiffness to the bonding strengths of adhesives for ceramic/metal targets

The aim of the investigations presented here was to understand how the stiffness of the adhesive affects the failure of ceramic tiles adhered to metallic backings. The working hypothesis was that varying the adhesive stiffness could have the same effect on the ballistic performance as a variation of the adhesive thickness.Two different projectile/target combinations were utilized for ballistic tests in order to generate extremely different loading conditions. With targets consisting of 6 mm aluminum oxide ceramic and 6 mm aluminum backing, complete penetration occurred in each test with 7.62 mm tungsten carbide core AP ammunition at an impact velocity of 940 m/s. In contrast, with ceramic tiles of 20 mm thickness on 13 mm steel backing,no penetration of the ceramic occurred at the impact of a 7.62 mm ball round at 840 m/s.Four different types of adhesive(high-strength till high-flexible) were tested in both configurations. The elongation of the adhesive layer, the deformation of the metallic backing and the failure of the ceramics were observed by means of a high-speed camera during the projectile/target interaction.The results of the ballistic tests showed that a higher fracture strain caused a larger deformation of the backing compared to adhesives, which exhibit a high tensile strength and low fracture strains.The experimental results indicate that the damage behavior of the ceramic/metal composites depends on the absolute elongation of the adhesive layer. This can be controlled either by the thickness or the stiffness of the bonding layer.

Damage visualization and deformation measurement in glass laminates during projectile penetration

Transparent armor consists of glass-polymer laminates in most cases.The formation and propagation of damage in the different glass layers has a strong influence on the ballistic resistance of such laminates.In order to clarify(he course of events during projectile penetration,an experimental technique was developed,which allows visualizing the onset and propagation of damage in each single layer of the laminate.A telecentric objective lens was used together with a microsecond video camera that allows recording 100 frames at a maximum rate of 1 MHz in a backlit photography set-up.With this technique,the damage evolution could be visualized in glass laminates consisting of four glass layers with lateral dimensions 500 mm x 500 mm.Damage evolution was recorded during penetration of 7.62 mm AP projectiles with tungsten carbide core and a total mass of 1 1.1 g in the impact velocity range from 800 to 880 m/s.In order to measure the deformation of single glass plates within the laminates,a piece of reflecting tape was attached to the corresponding glass plate,and photonic Doppler velocimetry(PDV) was applied.With the photonic Doppler velocimeter.an infrared laser is used to illuminate an object to be measured and the Doppler-shifted light is superimposed to a reference light beam at the detector.The simultaneous visualization and PDV measurement of the glass deformation allow determining the deformation at the time of the onset of fracture.The analysis of the experimental data was supported by numerical simulations,using the AUTODYN commercial hydro-code.

Analysis of global momentum transfer due to buried mine detonation

The emergence of improvised explosive devices (IED) significantly extended the spectrum of possiblethreat mechanisms to military vehicles and their occupants. Especially buried high explosive (HE)charges lead to new and originally not investigated loading conditions during their detonation. It is theinteraction of the embedding geomaterial with the detonation products that leads to a strongly increasedglobal impulse transfer on the vehicle with following high accelerations on the vehicle occupant. Thispaper presents a comprehensive approach for the analysis of occupant loading. In a first step, we presentthe so called ring technology which allows the experimental determination of the locally resolvedspecific impulse distribution on a vehicle floor due to buried charge detonation. A complementarymethod is the use of scaled model vehicles that allows the determination of global vehicle loading parameterssuch as jump height or vehicle accelerations. Both techniques were used to study the influenceof burial conditions as burial depth, embedding material or water content on the impulse transfer ontothe vehicle. These experimental data are used to validate material models for the embedding sand orgravel materials. This validated material description is the basis for numerical simulation models used inthe assessment of occupant safety. In the last step, we present a simulation model for a generic militaryvehicle including a Hybrid III occupant dummy that is used for the determination of biomechanicaloccupant exposure levels. Typical occupant loadings are evaluated and correlated with burial conditionsas HE mass and global momentum transfer.

Engineering tool for the evaluation of global IED effects

The detonation of an IED near a military vehicle induces different damage effects on the vehicle and its occupants. There are local effects from fragments and projectiles but there are also global effects from a momentum transfer on the complete vehicle structure and a subsequent dynamical motion of the vehicle with phenomena like overturning or vehicle displacement from the road.Questions like this can be answered with numerical finite-element simulations but there is also the need for engineering tools that allow a quick and nearly instantaneous simulation of these phenomena. The following work presents an approach for a fast analysis of global IED effects on vehicles. The physical modelling is based on analytical formula and empirical data that describe the momentum transfer of a detonation on a nearby structure. This momentum is the initial condition for the calculation of the following vehicle motion and the simulation of vehicle dynamics and jump height.The software itself has a modern GUI that allows the generation of the vehicle structure and the threat scenario together with an interactive analysis of the simulation results.The engineering tool is validated with small size generic vehicle tests where jump height and the vehicle motion are compared. The software allows a detailed analysis of global IED effects and can be additionally used in an inverse mode for the analysis of incidents with the determination of used HE masses in an IED attack.

Flash X-ray cinematography analysis of dwell and penetration of smallcaliber projectiles with three types of SiC ceramics

In order to improve the performance of ceramic composite armor it is essential to know the mechanisms during each phase of the projectile–target interaction and their influence on the penetration resistance.Since the view on the crater zone and the tip of a projectile penetrating a ceramic is rapidly getting obscured by damaged material,a flash X-ray technique has to be applied in order to visualize projectile penetration.For this purpose,usually several flash X-ray tubes are arranged around the target and the radiographs are recorded on film.At EMI a flash X-ray imaging method has been developed,which provides up to eight flash radiographs in one experiment.A multi-anode 450 k V flash X-ray tube is utilized with this method.The radiation transmitted through the target is then detected on a fluorescent screen.The fluorescent screen converts the radiograph into an image in the visible wavelength range,which is photographed by means of a high-speed camera.This technique has been applied to visualize and analyze the penetration of 7.62 mm AP projectiles into three different types of Si C ceramics.Two commercial Si C grades and MICASIC(Metal Infiltrated Carbon derived Si C),a C-Si Si C ceramic developed by DLR,have been studied.The influences,not only of the ceramic but also the backing material,on dwell time and projectile erosion have been studied.Penetration curves have been determined and their relevance to the ballistic resistance is discussed.

Reduction of global effects on vehicles after IED detonations

Global effects caused by the detonation of an IED near a military vehicle induce subsequent severe acceleration effects on the vehicle occupants.Two concepts to minimize these global effects were developed,with the help of a combined method based on a scaled experimental technology and numerical simulations.The first concept consists in the optimization of the vehicle shape to reduce the momentum transfer and thus the occupant loading.Three scaled V-shaped vehicles with different ground clearances were built and compared to a reference vehicle equipped with a flat floor.The second concept,called dynamic impulse compensation(DIC),is based on a momentum compensation technique.The principal possibility of this concept was demonstrated on a scaled vehicle.In addition,the numerical simulations have been performed with generic full size vehicles including dummy models,proving the capability of the DIC technology to reduce the occupant loading.

Speciation in nanosecond laser ablation of zinc in water

In situ experimental methods have been applied to resolve mass flow and chemical speciation in the pulsed laser ablation of zinc in water. The chemical speciation has been resolved by time-resolved μ-X-ray absorption spectroscopy and mapped onto the macroscopic mass flow during material ejection from the metallic target and bubble dynamics of evaporated water. Large particles and agglomerates have been detected via dark-field X-ray imaging with a Shack-Hartmann sensor. The characteristic of the dynamics is that the vapor bubble is nearly homogeneously filled with ablated material. This persists during bubble collapse,which means that the ablated particles are captured and retracted towards the target. Limited mass escape is indicated by the X-ray absorption signal. Importantly, the near-edge structure at the Zn-K;transition delivers information on the chemical state of the ejected material. It clearly confirms that oxidation is not present within the bubble phase and the following sub-millisecond time scale. The oxidation proceeds on Zn nanoparticles in suspension on a second to minute course. Within the first microseconds,a Zn atom phase is detected that resembles Zn vapor. The addition of either reductive NaBH;or oxidative HAuCl;to the water phase influences the quantity of the atom contribution moderately, but does not influence the initial atom phase. Such behavior must be understood in terms of the nanosecond pulse excitation. After ejected material and a plasma is formed within the pulse duration of 7 ns the laser is able to further heat the ejecta and transform it partly into vapor. Correspondingly, the coupling of energy into the ablation zone as followed by plasma intensity and bubble size follows a threshold behavior as a function of laser fluence, marking the onset of laser-plasma heating. The reaction conditions inside the bubble are probably reductive due to the concomitant formation of excess hydrogen.