Underwater explosive response of submerged, air-backed composite materials: Experimental and computational studies

Document Type

Article

Date of Original Version

7-1-2013

Abstract

The response of composite plates subjected to underwater explosive (UNDEX) loading has been investigated through laboratory experiments and corresponding computational simulations. The focus of the work is the transient plate response and the evolution of material damage. The study is comprised of three main sections: (1) Response of flat E-Glass/Epoxy plates, (2) Response of curved E-Glass/Vinyl Ester plates, and (3) Effects of polyurea surface coatings. The first two sections present comparisons between experimental results and computational simulations, while the third section contains experimental observations. The UNDEX experiments are carried out using a water-filled conical shock tube (CST) which imparts pressure loading representative of the far field, underwater detonation of a spherical charge. During the experiments, the transient response of the plates is captured through either strain gages (flat plates) or the Digital Image Correlation Method (curved Plates). The computational models utilize the commercial finite element code LS-DYNA and are shown to accurately simulate the dynamic response of the plates as well as the fluid structure interaction (FSI). Polyurea coatings are shown to have both positive and adverse effects on the shock response of the composite plates depending on coating thickness and more importantly, coating location.

Publication Title, e.g., Journal

Blast Mitigation: Experimental and Numerical Studies

Volume

9781461472674

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