Modeling and Simulation of Ceramic Arrays to Improve Ballaistic Performance

2D AutoDyn analyses of cylinder impact on ceramic plate have been conducted to identify the mesh size needed to capture detail crack growth in ceramic tiles Steel 4340 is used for the projectile and AutoDyn SiC material properties are used for the ceramic tile Mesh sensitivity analysis is performed using four different square mesh sizes 0.50-mm x 0.50-mm square mesh 0.40-mm x 0.40-mm square mesh 0.30-mm x 0.30-mm square mesh 0.20-mm x 0.20-mm square mesh Results shows that 0.20-mm mesh size provides a fracture pattern that may be considered acceptable for analysis A conico-cylinder projectile is also used to study the fracture behavior with 0.20-mm mesh size We will develop 3D FEMs for further AutoDyn analyses An undergraduate student is working in the Summer 2013 session, and we are planning to recruit a graduate student in the Fall.