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An application of the energy partition method on the blast response of composite panels

T. Li Piani 1, J. Weerheijm 1,2, F. Moriniere 3, J. Hoogland 1, I. Schipperen 1, G. Roebroeks 1, R. Alderliesten 2

1 TNO, The Hague, the Netherlands
2 TU Delft, Delft University of Technology, Delft, the Netherlands
3 Ansys, Cambridge, United Kingdom

Landmines are used in battle fields to damage military vehicles. Current vehichle applications in Out of area operations (OoA) are mainly based on steel and aluminum. These offer protection at the expenses of high weight, mobility limitations and design restrictions. A prototype of composite panel which outperforms the blast response of traditional materials was recently developed at TNO, in the Netherlands. In order to address the physics of response, an Energy Partition Method (EPM) has been applied to simulate and interpret the blast behavior of composites experimentally tested. Flexural deformation and delamination were the energy dissipation components implemented in a 1D model of the panel. The results showed that delamination is the first failure mode activated during blast load but its direct contribution on energy dissipation is relatively modest. In contrast, flexural response governs failure against blast load and degradation of the properties of the laminate plies starts after the peak impulse. Interpretation of results showed that aside its modest direct contribution, delamination may trigger the shift from bending to a preferred membrane behavior of the panel, which thus indirectly governs the failure response. In this paper, the EPM adopted framework is described. Experimental and numerical reference consisting of several blast tests and simulations on 1/4 panels is briefly recalled. Model implementation and EPM simulation results are presented and interpreted against current knowledge on impact response of composites.

Key words: Composite, blast, transient deformation, energy partition method, delamination