Transient response of stiffened composite submersible hull to underwater explosion bubble

Abstract

This paper deals with the transient response of a glass–epoxy composite submersible hull subjected to underwater explosive bubble. The boundary-element method (BEM) is used to simulate the physical process of the explosion bubble growth, contraction and collapse while the finite element method (FEM) is used to calculate the glass–epoxy composite structure response to the high pressure induced by the underwater explosion bubble. The coupled BEM–FEM is used to handle the interaction of the composite structures and the underwater explosion bubble. With the coupled code, the mutual effects of relative location between the bubble and the composite submersible hull are investigated; and also the transient responses (such as stresses and internal energy densities) of the composite submersible hull to the underwater explosive bubble can be predicted for different charge weights and charge distances. From the results obtained, some insights to the dynamical problem of the interaction between underwater explosion bubbles and composite structures are deduced.