Use of numerical simulations in damage assessment due to high velocity impacts

摘要

Nowadays numerical simulations are gaining importance in the design and assessment phase of very complex and extreme cases involving material constitutive laws in the range of large strain, strain rate, high temperature and failure. In particular, events like high velocity impacts are gaining an increasingly important role in the structural assessment of critical mechanical components; especially impact from small bullets (unfortunately of widespread occurrence and seriously dangerous for humans and mechanical components). Although experimental tests have a primary role, numerical simulations are fundamental to increase the understanding of the impact events and to reduce experimental efforts. This work provides a detailed approach mainly focused on simulations of the ballistic impact between a NATO 7.62 projectile and a critical mechanical component using two numerical finite element solvers: ABAQUS and LS-DYNA. Simulation strategies, and also CPU performances of the two software packages, are evaluated. The comparison highlights the different approaches available and the final results are validated by comparison with measurements from real ballistic experimental tests.