Finite Element Simulation of Armor Steel used for Blast Protection

Abstract

Safety of defense and paramilitary operators in hostile environments can be ensured by using ballistic materials. Various destructive and non-destructive techniques are available for characterizing ballistic materials and performance of respective products but they can be expensive and protracted. Finite Element method (FEM) is useful in these situations as it can be used during design phase to determine critical design sections and material performance in products. This study focuses on FE simulation of ARMOX armor steel used for blast protection in anti-land mine vehicles using CONWEP method to simulate blast. Plate is modeled as deformable solid with Johnson-Cook plasticity. Parametric study is performed to determine appropriate element size. Results of numerical simulation were validated from results of experiments published earlier by various researchers. Layered and laminated steel plates of varying thicknesses were tested to assess blast protection as against monolithic armor plate using developed numerical model. Results showed that layered steel plates performed worse and laminated plates performed better than monolithic armor steel plates.