Impact comminution of solids due to local kinetic energy of high shear strain rate: II–Microplane model and verification

The new theory presented in the preceding paper, which models the dynamic comminution of concrete due to very high shear strain rate, is now compared to recent test data on the penetration of projectiles through concrete walls of different thicknesses, ranging from 127 to 254 mm. These data are analyzed by an explicit finite element code using the new microplane constitutive model M7 for concrete, which was previously shown to provide the most realistic description of the quasi-static uni-, bi- and tri-axial test data with complex loading path and unloading. Model M7 incorporates the quasi-static strain rate effects due viscoelasticity and to the rate of cohesive crack debonding based on activation energy of bond ruptures, which are expected to extend to very high rates. Here model M7 is further enhanced by apparent viscosity capturing the energy dissipation due to the strain-rate effect of comminution. The maximum shear strain rates in the computations are of the order of 105 s−1. The simulations document that, within the inevitable uncertainties, the measured exit velocities of the projectiles can be matched quite satisfactorily and the observed shapes of the entry and exit craters can be reproduced correctly.