Numerical simulations for high-energy impact of thin plates

New approaches to the design of advanced aerospace systems requires an evaluation of extreme loading conditions and assessment of different possible failures scenario. One such scenario involves the high-energy foreign-object impact on relatively thin plates used in fuselage and wing applications. This paper describes a series of LS-DYNA numerical simulations for studying the impact and penetration of thin plates by small fragment impactors. This work supported the development of a gas-actuated penetration device at NASA Langley Research Center for high-energy impact testing of structures. The high-energy impact testing device is used for experimental simulation of uncontained engine failures. Threshold velocities for different combinations of pitch and yaw angles of the impactor were obtained for the impactor-target test configuration in the numerical simulations. Complete penetration of the target plate was also simulated numerically. Finally, a comparison of numerical and experimental results is presented for a complete penetration test of the target by the impactor.