A first-principles based model characterizing the debris cloud created in a hypervelocity impact

摘要

The key to conducting an accurate damage assessment of a target impacted by a high speed projectile is the use of a robust methodology that includes the effects of discrete impacts by solid debris cloud fragments as well as impulsive loadings due to molten and vaporous debris cloud material. Clearly then, the amount of debris cloud material in each of the three states of matter must be known to accurately assess target damage due to a high speed impact. This paper presents a first-principles method to calculate 1) the amount of material in a debris cloud created by a perforating hyper-velocity impact that is solid, molten, and vaporous, 2) the debris cloud leading edge, trailing edge, center-of-mass, and expansion velocities, and 3) the angular spread of the debris cloud material. The predictions of this methodology are compared against those of empirically-based lethality assessment schemes as well as against numerical and empirical results.