Response of simulated propellant and explosives to projectile impact—III. Experimental and numerical results of warhead penetration and fragmentation

Abstract

Summary This paper is the third of a series concerned with the effects of projectile impact on a simulated explosive or propellant, called Propergol. Experiments were conducted to study the fragmentation and perforation response of disks of this material when subjected to impact by blunt and cylindro-conical strikers. Similar tests were conducted on layered targets of Propergol and steel, and also for a simulated warhead that was struck by armor-piercing projectiles. Data were obtained by velocity measurement, high-speed photography and post-mortem target examination including collected fragments. A fragmentation oriented penetration code, AUTODYN(frag) was developed from the interfacing of a two-dimensional commercial finite difference code, AUTODYN, with a fragmentation subroutine, BFRACT, developed by other investigators. This program was utilized to study the microfracture and fragmentation processes in both monolithic and composite Propergol plates during their penetration by projectiles. In addition, numerical evaluations of the effects of simulated warhead penetration by armor-piercing bullets were conducted using the publicly available finite-element code DYNA2D. The numerical results were compared with corresponding experimental data and also with the predictions of an analytical representation of the phenomenon, described in the second paper of the series. Reasonable agreement was obtained in the domain where the hypotheses concerning the structure of the analysis and of the computations were applicable.