Title

Instabilities in Underwater Composite Structures: Hydrostatic and Shock Loading

Document Type

Article

Date of Original Version

5-24-2017

Abstract

Experimental studies on the underwater buckling of composite tubes are conducted to evaluate and compare their collapse mechanics. Experiments are performed in a pressure vessel designed to provide constant hydrostatic pressure through the collapse. Filament-wound carbon-fiber/epoxy and glass/polyester tubes are studied to explore the effect of material type on the structural failure. Mitigation strategies are explored through polyurea coatings of different thicknesses on the interior or exterior of the tube to explore the effects of these configurations on implosion pulse mitigation. Shock-initiated implosions are also studied, where underwater explosives are used to load the structures with shock waves of varying magnitude. Three-dimensional digital image correlation technique is used to capture the full-field deformation and velocities during the implosion event. Local pressure fields generated by the implosion event are measured using dynamic pressure transducers to evaluate the strength of the emitted pressure pulses. These studies make a significant contribution to the state-of-the-art in the dynamic implosion of composite structures.

Publication Title, e.g., Journal

Explosion Blast Response of Composites

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