Analysis and Test of Hydrodynamic Ram in Welded Metallic Water Tanks

Abstract

Analysis and test of hydrodynamic ram in welded metallic tanks containing water were performed to investigate the phenomena and to understand the effects on the resulting structural behavior. Arbitrary Lagrange-Euler coupling method was used for the analysis of the fluid-structure interaction occurring in the hydrodynamic ram, where the projectile, tank, and water are exchanging load, momentum, and energy during the traveling of the projectile through the water of the tank. For a better representation of the physical phenomena, modeling of the welded edges is added to the analysis to simulate the earlier weld line fracture and its influence on the resulting hydrodynamic ram behavior. Corresponding hydrodynamic tests were performed in a modified gas gun facility, and the following panel-based examinations of various parameters, such as displacement, velocity, stress, and energy, as well as hydrodynamic ram pressure show that the analysis and test are well correlated, and thus the results of the study reasonably explain the characteristics of the hydrodynamic ram. The methodology and procedures of the present study are applicable to the hydrodynamic ram assessment of airframe survivability design concepts.