An explanation for the minimal effect of body curvature on hypervelocity penetration hole formation

• Published in: International journal of solids and structures Vol. 41; no. 15; pp. 4163 - 4177
• Main Author: De Chant, Lawrence J.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 01-07-2004
• Subjects: Curvature; Penetration hole diameter; Penetration hole diameter; Curvature
• ISSN: 0020-7683; 1879-2146
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ijsolstr.2004.02.053

Though not discussed extensively in the literature, it is known among workers in impact and penetration dynamics, e.g. the CTH analysis and development team at Sandia National Laboratories, that curvature of thin plates has a minimal effect on the penetration hole diameter due to a hypervelocity impact. To understand why curvature introduces a minimal effect on penetration hole size we extend a flat plate penetration hole diameter relationship (
De Chant (2004a) Unpublished manuscript;
De Chant (2004b) Mechanics of Materials, in press) to include the effect of body curvature. The effect of the body curvature on the hole diameter is shown to scale according to the dimensionless plate thickness to radius of curvature of the body i.e.
h/
R, which is typically small. Indeed for most problems where a single layer shell (plate) can be meaningfully defined, the effect of curvature upon hole diameter is on the order of other uncertainties in the problem, e.g. doubts concerning the appropriate equation of state and strength model, and is often, therefore, negligible.