Numerical Simulation of Projectile Impact on a Target Plate using Ls-Dyna

Abstract

Usually, the metal matrix composites have been developed greatly due to the wide range of applications in aerospace and automotive industries. The paper describes the numerical simulation method of the ballistic impact of bullet as a projectile on the Al-SiC metal matrix composite plates using the LS-DYNA software.In this study the metal matrix composite materials selected as Aluminium 75% and silicon carbide 25% to improve the ballistic resistance. The material of the bullet model was selected as 4340-Steel; hence the bullet and target plate models are designed in the CATIA-V5. Subsequently, the models were imported into the LS-DYNA for simulation. This analysis of the impact of the bullets is carried out using the Lagrangian method. Analysis is performed for target plate thickness varying from 2mm to 5mm. The simulation for the 2mm-5mm metal matrix plates were runs at different velocities till the penetration takes place. In this analysis we observed for 2mm thick plate the penetration occurs at 178m/sec, similarly for 3mm, 4mm and 5mm thick plate the penetration occurs at 235m/sec, 253m/sec and 282m/sec. A numerical study was done and the results were represented graphically as pressure vs time, stress vs strain, resultant displacement vs time, kinetic energy vs time, total energy vs time and resultant displacement vs resultant velocity graphs. This simulation study could be further performed in order to investigate the stress-strain distribution and deformation on the metal matrix target plates during the projectile impact and penetration.
Keywords:Al-Sic Plate, Steel Projectile, Ballistic Impact, Numerical Simulation, LS-DYNA