Impact of polyurea-coated metallic targets: computational framework

Polyurea elastomer is known to exhibit advantageous impact-mitigation characteristics and thus can improve the dynamic performance of various components and structures. This study identifies the mechanisms of dynamic response of thin metallic plates, covered by a frontal polyurea layer, using a physically verified, custom material model for two-part polyurea implemented within a finite-element-method framework. A linear increase in the ballistic performance of a target with polymer coating is consistent with experimental work captured for the first time in a numerical study. A reported ballistic-limit improvement of 7.4 m s–1 per millimetre increase of polyurea thickness for frontal-layer thicknesses higher than 4 mm on the thin monolithic plate was established. In contrast, the application of polyurea coating thinner than 4 mm resulted in a diminished ballistic performance of the target. These outcomes are attributed to significant alterations in the energy-absorbing capacity of thin plates with the introduction of the polyurea layer that strongly depend on the impact velocity, polymer thickness, and interfacial interactions

Mechanics of ballistic impact with non-axisymmetric projectiles on thin aluminium targets. Part I: Failure mechanisms

The ballistic performance of thin aluminium targets under normal and oblique impacts with platelike projectiles is investigated with emphasis on the local projectile-induced target response. Three projectiles of 5 mm thickness with decreasing bluntness were considered, with the ratio of the projectile’s equivalent diameter to the target’s thickness (deq/hT ) within the range of 0 to 4.89. The obtained results suggest that defeat mechanisms, and target resistance measures were different from those observed in impact with equivalent axisymmetric projectiles, as a result of a high projectile’s cross-sectional aspect ratio. Projectiles with inclined nose sections inflicted a shear-dominant failure that was locally energetically expensive and depended on the product of length (LN) and half-angle (α) of the projectile’s nose. On the other hand, projectiles with blunt sections were associated with retardation of their penetration capacity due to dynamic effects, followed by a low-energy mechanism associated with membrane stretching and tensile failure of targets. A total of 48 experiments were performed at normal-impact conditions, to estimate the critical velocity of perforation/penetration and examine the real-time deformation patterns at sub-critical velocities, by employing the digital image correlation technique. Overall, the critical velocity showed a quadratic dependence on deq/hT , where the benefit of ballistic performance decreased with an increase in this ratio. The observed non-monotonic behaviour of the critical velocity with increasing impact obliquity in some cases and the distinction in failure mechanisms highlight the importance of the projectile’s geometrical parameters for the energy transfer mechanisms. Also, the lack of correlation between the critical velocity and the local work in the target defeat term suggests that the resultant energy transfer mechanisms considerably contributed to the dissipation of the projectile’s kinetic energy. Experimental data were utilised for calibrating the material model and separate experimental results for validating the numerical (finite-element) model. A total of 119 simulations were carried out for normal and oblique impact incidences to examine the role of the projectile’s (i) rotation, (ii) geometrical features, and (iii) obliquity on the target’s dynamic performance and induced defeat mechanisms. The conclusions of this study form the basis for considering the role of the projectile’s geometrical parameters on the energy transfer mechanisms in the target through statistical and semi-analytical approaches presented in the second part of this work. </p