Uncertainty Quantification for Multi-Functional Energetic Structural Material Simulations

Abstract

Current investigations of multi-functional energetic structural materials (MESMs) involve shock-induced and shock-assisted chemical reactions, in which complex physical processes are only elucidated by computational models of gas-gun experiments at the present time. Physics submodels that describe the equation of state, material strength, heat transfer, and chemical reaction for MESMs must be calibrated with experimental data to obtain material constants. This paper has two main goals. First, we identify sources of uncertainty and propose a framework for calibration and validation of gas-gun simulations involving MESMs. Second, we introduce a verification procedure of a code appropriate for simulation of gas-gun experiments with MESM materials. We apply our approach to study a Ni + Al mixture where the physics models together with the conservations of mass, momentum, and energy are explicitly solved using a second-order-accurate finite volume method.