A Review of Shock Mitigation Techniques (Briefing Charts)

Shock mitigation methods i.e., techniques for attenuating high amplitude stresses with high frequency content are of great importance in defense applications. This presentation focuses on classifying and critically evaluating these techniques using categories based on the physical mechanism responsible for the mitigation. For example, crushable structures such as automotive crumple zones effectively attenuate single shock loads via irreversible deformation plasticity, but they can also amplify subsequent shock loads. Other mitigation mechanisms include phase transformations, viscous dissipation, wave mode conversion, and stress wave redirection. A bottom-up approach is used to define shock mitigation performance, beginning with simple 1-D models of stress wave transport through a multiple component system. Transmission and reflection performance of the mitigating materials are defined, calculated, and verified using simple experiments. Finally, approaches for improving the overall mitigation performance using topological optimization will be discussed.