Effects of Projectile and Cover Material Strength and Projectile Shape on the Impact Initiation of Composition B

To improve understanding of the response of munitions impacted by various types of projectiles, a combined experimental and computational study was conducted. The experimental configurations were simulated using the CTH hydrocode and the history variable reactive burn (HVRB) initiation model. Three-dimensional simulations of projectile impact on covered explosives were performed and the critical velocities for initiation were determined. Simulations performed for the purpose of determining whether the relative strength of the projectile and the cover affect the critical velocity showed little influence. Additional simulations for projectiles shaped like parallelepipeds were performed to shed light on the effect of the aspect ratio of the impacting face of the projectile. The results showed that face area alone does not determine critical velocity