Mesoscale simulations of a dart penetrating sand

Historically, hydrodynamic calculations have utilized continuum constitutive models to simulate the coupled dynamic response of a solid projectile penetrating a heterogeneous target system such as concrete, foam or a granular porous medium. Continuum models fail to capture the complicated grain level response within the heterogeneous target which can result in asymmetric loading of the projectile leading to variations in projectile performance. These grain level effects can be crucial to predicting the penetration depth or overall effectiveness of the projectile. In order to assess the possibility of using mesoscale simulations to resolve the grain level dynamics, hydrodynamic simulations were performed for an 11.4 cm long, 0.9 cm diameter dart penetrating a bed of porous granular dry sand with an initial velocity of 366 m/s. Simulations were performed using the Eulerian hydrocode CTH in a two-dimensional planar configuration. The goal of the mesoscale simulations is to determine the viability of using these techniques as an alternative to continuum models and to assess the effects of grain level variability such as anisotropic material distributions and variations in the dynamic yield and fracture strength. The results indicate that variations in the size distribution of aggregate added and the fracture strength of the sand system can have a significant effect on penetration performance of the dart; whereas variations in the dynamic strength of the sand had little effect on the dart penetration.