ADA441366
ADA441366
ADA441366
Disclaimers
The findings in this report are not to be construed as an official Department of the Army position
unless so designated by other authorized documents.
Mostafiz R. Chowdhury
Weapons and Materials Research Directorate, ARL
Ala Tabiei
Private Contractor
Air Gun Launch Simulation Modeling and Finite Element Model Sensitivity 5b. GRANT NUMBER
Analysis
5c. PROGRAM ELEMENT NUMBER
622618H80
Mostafiz R. Chowdhury (ARL); Ala Tabiei (private contractor) 5e. TASK NUMBER
14. ABSTRACT
This report presents in two parts analytical simulation results of a test item launched in an air gun test. The first part of the
report presents a discrete mass-spring model to predict the transient response of a generic artillery component subjected to
launch simulation in an air gun test environment. A 2-degree-of-freedom model is developed to simulate the air gun launch
environment in which a test object mounted on a projectile is launched through the air gun and decelerated by a crushing
aluminum honeycomb mitigator. The mitigator in turn impacts the momentum exchange mass (MEM) before being stopped at
the retrieving end. The present model achieved a good prediction of the period and peak acceleration of the on-board recorder.
The sensitivity of finite element (FE) model parameters affecting the dynamics of a test object launched in an air gun test is
discussed in the second part of the report. An LS-DYNA1 FE model previously developed to simulate the impact mitigation
environment is used to investigate the sensitivity of FE model parameters. The sensitivity study clearly indicates the necessity of
honeycomb material characterization under very high impact loading for effective modeling of the strain rate effects. The FE
analysis also suggests that intermittent eigenvalue analyses during an impact simulation could be useful in identifying the
dominant modes of vibration governing the dynamics of the test items and verifying the predictive capability of the FE model.
An efficient procedure using a decoupled model is proposed to simulate the response of a test item launched in an air gun test.
In this approach, the contact force generated from the discrete analytical model is applied on a detailed FE mesh of the test item
for a given impact velocity. The acceleration data obtained with this procedure compared well with those predicted from the full
FE analysis. The simplified model runs in less than 1 minute.
1
LS-DYNA, which is not an acronym, is a trademark of Livermore Software Technology Corp.
15. SUBJECT TERMS
air gun launch simulation; aluminum honeycomb; analytical simulation; discrete spring-mass model; sensitivity
17. LIMITATION 18. NUMBER 19a. NAME OF RESPONSIBLE PERSON
16. SECURITY CLASSIFICATION OF: OF ABSTRACT OF PAGES
Mostafiz Chowdhury
a. REPORT b. ABSTRACT c. THIS PAGE SAR 65 19b. TELEPHONE NUMBER (Include area code)
Unclassified Unclassified Unclassified 301-394-6308
Standard Form 298 (Rev. 8/98)
Prescribed by ANSI Std. Z39.18
ii
Contents
List of Figures iv
Acknowledgments vii
3. References 34
Distribution List 42
iii
List of Figures
iv
Figure 37. Mode shapes for a fundamental frequency................................................................. 30
Figure 38. Contact force between the OBR and the mitigator..................................................... 31
Figure 39. Acceleration data of the simplified and full model. ................................................... 32
v
INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK
vi
Acknowledgments
The analytical work presented here was accomplished under a contract (Contract No. DAAD19-
02-D-001, TCN: 03-054) with the Scientific Services Program of U.S. Army Research Office,
Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. Air gun tests were conducted by Mr. Ara Abrahamian
of the Weapons and Materials Research Directorate, U.S. Army Research Laboratory (ARL).
The contributions of Mr. Ara Abrahamian, Mr. Edward Szymanski, and Mr. William McIntosh
of ARL in delivering the air gun test are greatly appreciated. Dr. Dave Hampton of the
U.S. Military Academy at West Point provided a helpful review of the report, which is greatly
appreciated.
vii
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viii
1. Part I: Air Gun Modeling
1.1 Introduction
In an air gun test, it is critical to identify the characteristics of the test environment such as the
dynamic/physical properties of momentum exchange mass (MEM) and mitigator combinations in
order to obtain a target forcing function. Figure 1a depicts a schematic of the air gun test setup.
The test setup consists of an air gun, a pressure tube, a catch tube, and a MEM. The test item,
which is placed inside the pressure tube, is launched to impact an aluminum honeycomb mitigator.
The test item contains an on-board recorder (OBR) that records responses during launch simula-
tion. The OBR case, which is hereafter referred to as the “OBR,” is shown in figure 1b with
several accelerometers and strain gauges. The model developed in this study will be used to
determine the response behavior of the test item mounted on a given projectile during a launch
simulation air gun test. This methodology requires the development of a predictive model of
responses of the test article. An analytical model is herein developed to simulate an air gun launch
environment in which a test object mounted on a projectile is launched through the air gun and
decelerated by the crushing of an aluminum honeycomb mitigator that impacts the MEM before
being stopped at the retrieving end.
CATCH TUBE PRESSURE TUBE GUN EXIT
Energy
MEM MITIGATOR TEST Item Projectile
1
The objective of this effort is to develop an overall analytical model to predict the transient
response of a generic artillery component subjected to launch simulation. The simulation is
achieved via impact mitigation techniques whereby the component is propelled to a target inside
a 4-inch carrier equipped to measure component response during the simulation. A detailed
description of the developed formulation is presented in the next section.
1.2.1 Assumptions
To model the response of the OBR-mitigator-MEM system during impact, an analytical model is
herein developed. The model provides a closed form solution to the dynamic system driven by
the central difference equations and is based on the following assumptions:
The OBR and MEM can be accurately represented by rigid bodies since they do not dissipate
energy through plastic deformation. Only the lowest natural frequency of the OBR is of interest
when we are predicting the acceleration output; therefore, the OBR is represented by a 2-degree-
of-freedom spring-mass system. It is assumed that this frequency is readily available (if not, it
can be easily determined through simple analysis).
The mass of the mitigator is neglected. The mitigator is entirely represented by the force it exerts
on the OBR and the MEM. This force is determined from the geometric and material properties
of the mitigator and from balance and conservation considerations during the analysis stage.
2
v0 v0
k2
k1
m1 m2 m3
C1
OBR Mitig. MEM
v0 v0
k1
F F
m1 m2 m3
First, let us describe a time-stepping scheme to solve the dynamic system. The system’s motion
can be represented by the system of equations:
[M ]{u&&}+ [K ]{u} = {f } (1)
in which
[M ] = ⎡⎢
m1 0⎤
m2 ⎥⎦
is the mass matrix of the left-hand side system,
⎣0
− k1 ⎤
[K ] = ⎡⎢
k1
k1 ⎥⎦
is the stiffness matrix of the left-hand side system,
⎣ − k1
⎧ u1 ⎫
{u} = ⎨ ⎬ is the displacement vector with ui being the displacement of mass mi
⎩u 2 ⎭
where i = 1,2; {u& } and {u
&&} are the mass velocities and accelerations, respectively.
{f } = ⎧⎨
0 ⎫
⎬ is the external force vector.
⎩− F ⎭
To solve this system, we define a central difference time-stepping scheme. At the initial moment
(t = 0), we have
3
{u}t = 0 = ⎧⎨
0⎫
⎬,
⎩0⎭
⎧v0 ⎫
{u& }t =0 = ⎨ ⎬,
v
⎩ 0⎭
− F0 ⎧0⎫ ⎧0⎫
{&u&}t =0 = [M ]−1 ({f }t =0 − [K ]{u}t =0 ) = ⎨ ⎬=⎨ ⎬
m2 ⎩1⎭ ⎩0⎭
To define the central difference time-stepping scheme, we expand {u}n+1 and {u}n–1 about {u}n
using a Taylor series as follows:
2 (2)
( )
2
{u}n −1 = {u}n − Δt{u& }n + Δt {&u&}n − O Δt 3
2
in which Δt is the central difference time step and O(Δt3) represents additional terms of the order
of Δt3 considered negligible. Then, from equation 2 we have
{u& }n = 1
({u}n+1 − {u}n−1 )
2Δt
(3)
{u&&}n = 2 ({u}n+1 − 2{u}n + {u}n−1 )
1
Δt
⎛ 1 ⎞
⎜ 2 [M ]⎟{u}n +1 = {f }n − [K ]{u}n + 2 [M ](2{u}n − {u}n −1 )
1
⎝ Δt ⎠ Δt
Equations 4 and 3 are sufficient to define a forward time-stepping scheme, provided that a
sufficiently small time step, Δt, is used. To start the time-stepping scheme, {u}–1 needs to be
available, which can be determined from the second equation of equation 2:
2
{u}−1 = {u}0 − Δt{u& }0 + Δt {&u&}0
2
4
m3 u&&3 = F
m3
((u3 )n+1 − 2(u 3 )n + (u 3 )n−1 ) = Fn
Δt 2
Δt 2 Fn
(u3 )n+1 = + 2(u 3 )n − (u 3 )n −1
m3
and the velocity and acceleration of the MEM can be calculated from equation 3.
1.3.2 Mitigator
The representation of the mitigator is vital to the accuracy of the simulation. In this development,
it is assumed that the mitigator is built of honeycomb and consists of one continuous piece of
honeycomb structure. It has one cylindrical section and one wedge-shaped part with a varying
cross section on the side (see figure 1a) that is being impacted by the OBR. A typical orthotropic
crush model behavior for the honeycomb material is composed of three phases as shown in figure
3 (1). These three phases include linear elastic loading, volumetric crush, and hardening to full
compaction. The initial linear elastic loading phase can be represented by an elastic modulus Ee,
yield stress and strain σy and εy, respectively. The volumetric crush behavior of the honeycomb
material model (up to compaction strain), εc, is assumed to be linear, as indicated in figure 3b.
The fluctuation in volumetric strain relations observed in tests (see figure 3a) is believed to have
resulted from unstable buckling of honeycomb cells. The hardening phase is assumed to have a
linear relation during compaction with modulus Ec. To model the mitigator, the relation between
the contact force and the mitigator front deformation and their progress in time is established.
5
Here, it is assumed that as the wedge section deforms, it takes the shape of a truncated wedge, as
was indicated by the finite element analysis (FEA) results. It is also assumed that within the
wedge part, the cross-sectional area varies linearly over the wedge height. In the development of
this mitigator deformation model, its mass is herein neglected; its mass and velocity throughout
the event are small compared to the other moving parts. The mitigator deformation is driven in
time by its elastic and plastic wave propagation speeds. Since the elastic propagation speed is
much higher than the velocities in the event, it is assumed that elasticity-driven events propagate
with infinite speed. Therefore, before the stress-strain state attains material yielding, it must be
homogeneous along the cylinder axis.
16 σ
14
H38_06
Average Crush Strength: 7.18 ksi
Ec
Crush Efficiency: 64.4 %
12
10 σy
F/Ao, ksi
8 εc
6
Ee
4
2 εy
0
ε
0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7
ΔL/Lo
a b
Figure 3. Honeycomb stress-strain curve.
Our aim is to determine the force resulting from the mitigator deformation within the central
difference time-stepping scheme. Assuming that we have found a solution at time equal to tn, we
need to express the force at time tn+1 = tn + Δt.
When the OBR hits the mitigator, a plastic region forms immediately at the wedge top. As
indicated in figure 4, the boundary between this plastic region and the rest of the mitigator,
which is still elastic, would travel down the length of the mitigator with variable velocity equal
to the current plastic wave speed, cpl (2, 3). Figure 4 also shows the respective material states
(density [ρ], stress [σ]) of the crushed and elastic parts of the mitigator. The stresses, velocities,
and densities on both sides of the plastic wave front are further explained in figure 5. With the
approach suggested in (2) and (3), the plastic wave speed can be determined as follows.
Plastic wave front
σb σy
m2 V = VOBR V=0 m3
ρ = ρy/(1-εc) ρy
cpl
Figure 4. Plastic shock wave.
6
m2 σb σy m3
VOBR V = VOBR V = VMEM VMEM
ρ = ρy/(1-εc) ρy
ΔL0 x Lel
L0
Figure 5. Mitigator deformation.
Following the notation of figure 5, let the initial length of the mitigator be L0. At the current
analysis time, t, the total deformation of the mitigator is ΔL0 and the lengths of the crushed and
the elastic parts are x and Lel, respectively. Since the yield strain of the mitigator is negligible
compared to its compaction strain, we can assume that all mitigator deformation, ΔL0, occurs in
the compacted region:
ΔL0
εc = (6)
x + ΔL0
or
1− εc
x= ΔL0
εc
Ld Lp
Lw x
The mitigator deformation can be expressed through the displacements of both its ends, which
are equal to the displacements of the adjacent masses m2 and m3.
ΔL0 = uOBR − u MEM (7)
The plastic wave speed, cpl, is equal to the time rate of change in length of the crushed portion as
shown next.
7
d ( x + ΔL0 ) 1 d ( ΔL0 ) 1 d (uOBR − u MEM ) (VOBR − VMEM )
c pl = = ⋅ = ⋅ = (8)
dt εc dt εc dt εc
Knowing the velocity of the OBR at time tn, we can calculate this speed and revise the plastic
wave front location:
(x )
front n +1 = (x front )n + (c pl )n Δt (9)
The stresses immediately below the plastic wave front (assuming a vertical mitigator with the
wedge on top, figure 6) are equal to the yield stress. Thus, knowing the position of the wave
front, one can easily determine the area at the plastic wave front (Af) and the corresponding
cross-sectional resultant contact force, Fcont as shown next.
Fcont = σy⋅(Af) (10)
The front area, Af, is determined from the plastic wave front displacement. Within the wedge
portion of the mitigator, we assume that there are two regions: the plastic zone and the elastic
zone. As illustrated in figure 6, Lw is the wedge initial height, and Ld is its current deformed
height to be determined from loading. When the plastic zone length ( L p ) is less than the wedge
length ( Lw ), then the front area can be determined as follows:
Lp
Af= Ao (11)
Lw
Otherwise,
Af = Ao
8
the quasi-static stress-strain relationship and of the current strain rate. Experimental data for
different rates can be used to obtain the parameters of the power law relationship, thus expressing
the stress enhancement as a function of variable strain rates. Since no such experimental data are
available for the present study, the available quasi-static relations are used, and a stress enhance-
ment coefficient of 1.5 times the static stress is assumed to model the crushing stress on the
honeycomb material. In a previous finite element (FE) simulation of the air-gun environment (6),
the authors have successfully demonstrated the effectiveness of such a constant stress enhancement
factor of 1.5 in modeling the strain rate effect on the honeycomb material.
The values of all parameters used in the present analysis are now provided:
m1 – mass of OBR, back: 1.25 kg
m2 – mass of OBR, front: 2.5 kg
m3 – mass of MEM: 31.2 kg
k1 – OBR spring stiffness: 2.0×109 N/m
v0 – OBR initial velocity: 83.566 m/s
ΔT – End-time of analysis: 0.002 s
Δt – Time-step for analysis: 1.0×10–6 s
δt – Output time step: 4.0×10–6 s
εc – compacting strain: 0.64
9
σy – yield stress: 55.16 MPa
σcrush –1.5⋅(static yield) = 1.5⋅55.16 = 82.74 MPa
E – elastic modulus: 4,060 MPa
ρ0 – density of honeycomb: 650 kg/m3
r – radius of mitigator: 0.05 m
Lw – length of mitigator wedge: 0.038 m
Lc– length of cylindrical section: 0.219 m
These values, converted for the convenience of comparing the results, were entered into the input
file provided in appendix A. The analysis was performed with the FORTRAN (Formula Trans-
lator) program, and the corresponding results are presented and compared to the FE analysis and
test results in figures 7 to 16. Figure 7 shows the unfiltered acceleration curves of the OBR top
(attachment point of mass m2 for present approach). Predicted accelerations filtered at 7000 Hz,
2500 Hz, and 1000 Hz are presented in figures 8, 9, and 10, respectively. Since the only frequency
present in the current model is low, the results from the present approach have been filtered only in
figure 10, which portrays the results of applying a 1000-Hz filter to all three curves. In figures 7
through 9, only the FE and test curves were filtered. As seen from the first two figures, the present
approach matches the average of both the test and the FEA curves. Figure 9 shows that the present
model gives excellent results for both the acceleration peak and the acceleration pulse duration.
Figure 10, data filtered at 1000 Hz, indicates excellent agreement between the present and the FE
approach. Figure 11 shows frequency domain plot comparison of the acceleration data. As seen in
figure 11, the first fundamental frequency of the present model matches that of the test item. This
comparison suggests that the modeling of OBR spring stiffness, k1, based on test item’s first
fundamental mode, reasonably captures the dynamics of the proposed mass-spring discrete system
of the air gun launch environment.
10
Figure 8. Top acceleration of the OBR filtered at 7000 Hz.
11
Figure 10. Top acceleration of the OBR filtered at 1000 Hz.
Figure 11. Fast Fourier transform (FFT) of the top acceleration of the OBR.
12
OBR velocities for the test, FE simulation, and present approach are compared in figure 12. As
shown in the figure, a very good agreement is observed between the FE and present approach.
Test velocity history is obtained from the integration of test acceleration data. A similar compari-
son of OBR displacement results for all three cases is presented in figure 13. Figure 13 shows
that the present approach matches the maximum displacement from the test very closely. The
discrepancies we observe to the right of the peak displacements (when the OBR starts to retract)
can be attributed to friction in the “catch tube” and to other mechanisms not accounted for within
the FE and the present analysis.
Figure 14 shows the contact forces between the mitigator and the OBR and between the
mitigator and the MEM. In the FE analysis, these forces differ because of the elastic wave
propagation speed, inertial effects in the mitigator, etc. These phenomena contribute
insignificantly to the dynamics of the system, especially if the OBR is to be the primary object of
interest; therefore, they were neglected within the present approach. This simplification makes
the contact forces at the two interfaces equal, but as we see, they are very close to the average of
both curves. Furthermore, when we compare impulses by integrating the force over time, we get
a very good agreement among the impulses at both interfaces, as shown in figure 15.
13
Figure 13. Top displacement of the OBR.
14
Figure 15. Mitigator contact force impulse.
The present approach provides data for the length of the compacted zone within the mitigator.
The position of the crush front within the undeformed mitigator (“initial”) and the length of the
crushed part (“compacted”) are shown in figure 16.
15
1.5 Parameter Variation Sensitivity
In this section, we illustrate the model’s response to varying the parameters of the system. As
explained earlier, the representation of the OBR by two separate masses and a spring aims to
capture one additional frequency of the OBR which is considered of interest. However, this
representation requires the total physical mass of the OBR to be distributed between the two
representative masses in the model: m1 and m2. Furthermore, the connecting spring stiffness
has to be determined. These processes introduce additional uncertainties into the model; this is
especially true of the mass distribution process since it is not uniquely defined but depends on
the user’s judgment. In general, varying the m1:m2 mass ratio will only change the oscillation
amplitude, not the oscillation frequency. Figure 17 shows the acceleration curves of masses m1
and m2 for two different distribution ratios. First, the total mass of the OBR (3.75 kg in this
example) was distributed to 1.25 kg for m1 and 2.5 kg for m2 (ratio 1:2). The corresponding
accelerations are shown with curves A and B in figure 17. Curves C and D show the accelerations
of the masses for a ratio of 2:1 (m1 = 2.5 kg and m2 = 1.25 kg). The frequency of oscillation for all
four curves is the same. Only the amplitude of oscillation is changed.
The stiffness of the spring connecting the two OBR masses, k1, is determined by equation 5
which requires the determination of the angular frequency of the OBR. Since this would
normally be determined experimentally, some error might be introduced into the spring stiffness
value. Therefore, it is interesting to see how small variations in the value of k1 would affect the
model output. Effects of the variation of k1 values are illustrated in figure 18, which compares
16
the initial acceleration response to that obtained for k1 values 10% smaller and larger than the
initial stiffness determined by equation 5. As seen, the system behavior, especially in the area of
interest (first millisecond), does not change significantly. Furthermore, when drastically
changing the spring stiffness value, as shown in figure 19, we still get the correct shape and peak
of the deceleration pulse.
17
The integration time step is a very important parameter of the central difference time-stepping
scheme. In order to get an accurate solution, the time step needs to be smaller than a certain
value called the critical time step. If this requirement is not satisfied, the solution quickly
diverges. Therefore, determining the critical time step for a given solution is very important to
ensure accuracy in the results. However, in most cases this is not an easy task, and for complex
systems, only threshold limits of the critical time step are determined. In the present model,
there is no need to determine the critical time step explicitly. Since the solution does not take a
significant amount of run time, we can easily re-run it with a smaller time step and compare the
two solutions to assess the accuracy of the results. As illustrated in figure 20, the initial solution
using a time step Δt = 1.0×10–6 s is identical to the solution generated with a 10-times-smaller
time step, Δt = 1.0×10–7 s. Even with a much coarser time resolution of Δt = 2.0×10–5 s, we get a
reasonably accurate solution. This shows that the chosen value of the time step is well below the
critical and illustrates the good overall stability and robustness of the solution scheme.
Finally, to illustrate how some of the geometric parameters of the system affect the solution
response, the radius of the mitigator honeycomb cylinder was varied. The corresponding OBR
acceleration responses are shown in figure 21. As would be expected, a smaller radius produced
a lower acceleration peak and a wider pulse, whereas a larger radius produced a higher
acceleration peak and a narrower pulse.
18
Figure 21. Model sensitivity to 10% variation of the value of mitigator radius.
1.6 Conclusion
The objective of this effort was to develop an overall analytical model to predict the transient
response of a generic artillery component subjected to launch simulation. The simulation is
achieved by impact mitigation techniques in which the component is propelled to a target inside
a carrier equipped to measure component response during the simulation. A 2-degree-of-
freedom model is developed to simulate the air gun launch environment in which a test object
mounted on a projectile is fired through the air gun and decelerated by the crushing of an
aluminum honeycomb mitigator, which in turn impacts the MEM before being stopped at the
retrieving end. The presented model achieved a good prediction of the period and peak
acceleration of the OBR.
Sensitivity of parametric study indicates that the distribution of masses in the spring-mass model
of the test item does change the oscillation amplitude without affecting the system’s frequency of
vibration. A slight variation of spring stiffness (±10%) does not change the shape and neither
does it affect the peak of the deceleration pulse of the test item. The sensitivity study of initial
time step illustrates the good overall stability and robustness of the proposed solution scheme.
19
2. Part II: Air Gun Finite Element Simulation
20
large deformation of the mitigator. On the other hand, the ALE method is more difficult to set
up, more difficult to post process, and requires much more CPU (central processing unit) time.
However, the ALE simulation is more suitable for very large deformation-like flow problems.
Both computational methods lead to the same prediction for the acceleration of the OBR. An
accurate prediction of the period and peak acceleration of the OBR is achieved with the presented
models and the methods employed.
21
Figure 22. Acceleration data for the same FE model with two different precisions.
22
2.2.2 Time Step Size Effect
Integration time step size variation is used to measure the stability of a model. Time step
variation is also used to detect any anti-aliasing in the collection of the data from the explicit time
integration simulation. The default integration time step is normally taken to be 90% of the
stability limit to avoid any filtering error such as beating in the data. This report considers two
additional integration time steps. One is taken to be 80% of the critical time step and the other is
taken to be 40% of the critical time step. The results of all three time steps are depicted in figure
24. FFTs of the data are depicted in figure 25. One can observe that all the important frequencies
are the same in all the considered integration time steps. Therefore, the default integration time
step is appropriate for this problem.
Figure 25. FFT of the acceleration data for different integration time steps.
23
2.2.3 Different Output Intervals
The data collection from the FE simulation should be the same as the test setup; therefore, the
two data can be compared meaningfully. The sampling rate in the test is 4 x 10-6 seconds, which
corresponds to 500 data sampling points in the 2-millisecond simulation. To investigate if any
data are missing from the simulation or if any abnormality exists in the numerical calculations,
data sampling rates of 10 and 20 times the test sampling rate are considered (5,000 and 10,000
points, respectively). In addition, data are collected at every integration time step. Figure 26
depicts the acceleration data for the entire sampling rate considered. FFTs of the data are
depicted in figure 27. All major contributing and significant frequencies are present in the
lower rate, which is also the sampling rate of the experimental data.
24
2.2.4 All Damping Options in LS-DYNA Investigated
There are three options for damping in the LS-DYNA code: global, mass, and stiffness propor-
tional damping. Global damping is similar in formulation as the mass proportional damping, and
therefore, results for this case are not presented. Different damping constants are considered for
each damping option. For the mass proportional damping, constants of magnitudes 100, 500,
1000, and 1500 are considered. Results for these cases are depicted in figure 28. FFTs of the
acceleration data are depicted in figure 29. One can observe that frequencies are damped signifi-
cantly, especially the lower frequencies of the system. Figure 30 depicts the test data and the
damped acceleration data from the simulation.
Figure 28. Acceleration data for simulation with mass proportional damping.
Figure 29. FFT of the acceleration data for simulation with mass proportional damping.
25
Figure 30. Acceleration data for simulation and test with mass proportional damping.
Stiffness proportional damping is considered in the simulation as 1%, 10%, 25%, 25%, and 35%
of the critical damping. The acceleration data are depicted in figure 31. FFTs of the data are
presented in figure 32. One can observe that the low frequencies are not damped, while the
higher frequencies are damped. Figure 33 depicts accelerations from the test data, the simulation
with no damping, and the simulation with 10% of the critical damping. Figure 34 depicts the
FFT of these accelerations. One can observe, again, that higher order frequencies are affected
more significantly than lower order frequencies. In general, mass proportional damping should
be used for low frequency content and pure deformation with no rigid body motion since it
damps the rigid body motion. Stiffness proportional damping is orthogonal to rigid body motion
and would not affect this type of motion. Stiffness proportional damping is good for high
frequency content and should be used in such problems where attenuation of high frequency
vibration is desired.
Figure 31. Acceleration data for simulation with stiffness proportional damping.
26
Figure 32. FFT of the acceleration data for simulation with stiffness proportional damping.
Figure 33. Acceleration data for simulation and test with stiffness proportional damping.
27
Figure 34. FFT of the acceleration data for simulation and test with stiffness proportional damping.
28
2.2.6 Intermittent Eigenvalues Analysis
To understand the frequency content in this simulation, an intermittent eigenvalue analysis is
conducted. The LS-DYNA code allows for the extraction of frequency contents during an impact
simulation. This is performed to relate the frequency content to the event and deformation mode in
the OBR. The FFT of the unfiltered acceleration of the OBR is depicted in figure 36. One can see
several important peaks in the data. The largest peak corresponds to the first fundamental mode.
The next peak is at about 7400 Hz. The next ones are at about 8000, 14600, 21000, 23800, 27700,
and 29500 Hz. The intermittent eigenvalue analysis revealed the sources of these frequencies.
One hundred modes were extracted from the analysis. Only the modes corresponding to the peaks
in the data are presented here. Figure 37 depicts the undeformed (line mesh) and the deformed
mode (solid shaded mesh) corresponding to the peaks in the frequency spectrum graph (figure 36).
It is clear that these peaks correspond to the axial mode of the OBR. High frequency content was
not observed in the experimental data. However, high frequency content is observed in the
simulation data. Since the beads are not present in the simulation and the high frequencies are
attributable to the axial deformation modes of the OBR, one can conclude that these high
frequencies in the simulation results are not realistic. This conclusion is based on the assumption
that high frequency oscillations in the axial direction of the OBR are absorbed by the glass beads
surrounding the accelerometer.
29
a. b.
c. d.
e. f.
Figure 37. Mode shapes for a fundamental frequency.
30
2.3 Simplified Simulation
The full FE model runs for few hours on a single processor CPU. For parametric studies, this run
time is considered to be long. A simplified methodology in which an FE model can run in few
minutes is developed. This methodology requires that a set of simulations be run for each OBR
configuration (see figure 1b, for example) with the discrete spring-mass model shown in figure 2,
and extract the force exerted between the test item and the mitigator. The contact forces (F in
figure 2) between the OBR and the mitigator could subsequently be used in a simplified FE
model of the test item only. For a given contact force corresponding to a given OBR weight and
configuration, an FE mesh of the OBR (test item) could be analyzed that requires a shorter run
time. Any modification in the OBR content that may be required because of the addition of a
new electronics package to be tested could easily be modeled in the simplified FE mesh of the
OBR for a given force. To simulate the response of the OBR, the contact force is applied as an
external force to the OBR to resist the momentum of the OBR. This methodology is applied to
the current model and presented next.
For the test item used in figure 1b, the contact force between the mitigator and the OBR is
presented in figure 38. This force is then applied as an external force to the OBR FE model (the
only mesh is the OBR) for a given initial impact velocity. The acceleration data are collected
from the simplified model and compared to full model in figure 39. One can observe that they
are practically the same. The simplified model runs in less than a minute.
Figure 38. Contact force between the OBR and the mitigator.
31
Figure 39. Acceleration data of the simplified and full model.
2.4 Conclusion
The sensitivity of FE model parameters affecting the dynamics of a test object launched in an air
gun test is discussed in this part of the report. An LS-DYNA FE model previously developed to
simulate the impact mitigation environment is used to investigate the sensitivity of FE model
parameters. Previous study indicates the necessity of honeycomb material characterization under
very high impact loading for effective modeling of the strain rate effects. The sensitivity study
clearly indicates that the model is numerically stable and can aid in failure prediction if damping
is added. A comparison of FE simulation responses with various damping options suggests that
the mass proportional damping attenuates the low frequency vibration in the simulated response
while the stiffness proportional damping attenuates the high frequency oscillations. The FE
analysis also suggests that intermittent eigenvalue analyses during an impact simulation could be
useful in identifying the dominant modes of vibration governing the dynamics of the test items
and verifying the predictive capability of the FE model. The reasons that the FE model predicted
high frequency content (above 14,000 Hz) that is not observed in the test could include (a) a lack
of information for material characterization of the honeycomb mitigator under very high strain
rate, or (b) lack of a proper material model for the beads which has significant damping at high
frequencies.
An efficient procedure using a simplified decoupled model is proposed to simulate the response
of a test item launched in an air gun test. In this approach, the contact force generated from the
discrete analytical model is applied on a detailed FE mesh of the test item for a given impact
velocity. The acceleration data obtained by this procedure compared well with those of the full
32
FE analysis. This model is programmed in a FORTRAN code that can produce results with only
a few minutes of run time which are comparable to the FE and test results. This procedure can
aid in the prediction of the failure of MEMS in the OBR with deformable FE model.
33
3. References
34
Appendix A. Program I/O Files and FORTRAN Source Code
Input File
The input parameters necessary for the impact model are entered in an ASCII text file named
“input.dat,” which needs to be located in the same directory as the program executable. A
sample input file with brief description of the input parameters follows:
1.25 M1 - mass of OBR back
2.5 M2 - mass of OBR front
31.2 M3 - mass of MEM
2.0E6 K1 - OBR spring stiffness
83.566 V0 - OBR initial velocity
0.002 End time of analysis
1.0E-6 Time step for analysis
4.0E-6 Output time step
0.64 Compacting strain
82.74E3 Yield stress
4.060E6 Elastic modulus
650.0 Density of honeycomb
0.05 Radius of mitigator
0.038 Length of wedge part
0.219 Length of cylindrical part
Notes:
The input parameters must be in consistent units. The program does not check for unit
consistency nor does it convert the input values to ensure consistency. The units used in the
above input are kilogram, second, meter, Newton.
The program reads only the first input parameter from each line of the input file. Everything
after the first parameter is treated as comments. However, the first parameter should have the
appropriate value of the corresponding variable and be in the appropriate numeric format.
The input parameters should be entered in the exact order as shown in the example above. There
should be no empty lines at the beginning of the input file.
35
Output Files
The program produces several output files:
output.dat – an ASCII file with all the output information in different columns. There are 12
columns having the values of current analysis time, displacement, velocity, and acceleration of
masses M1, M2, and M3, current force value, and current plastic front location.
LS_POSTdis.dat – an ASCII file with the displacements of the three mass attachment points.
This file is in LSTC LS-POST format.
LS_POSTvel.dat – an ASCII file with the velocities of the three mass attachment points. This
file is in LSTC LS-POST format.
LS_POSTacc.dat – an ASCII file with the accelerations of the three mass attachment points. This
file is in LSTC LS-POST format.
LS_POSTfor.dat – an ASCII file with the contact force between the mitigator and OBR (MEM).
This file is in LSTC LS-POST format.
36
FORTRAN Source Code
The FORTRAN source code of the program implementing the formulation described in section
“Model Formulation” follows below.
program main
double precision um1(3),un(3),up1(3),udn(3),uddn(3),xk1u,
* buff(10),cpl,xfront,dxfront,Force
c Initialize
xpi=3.1415926536
open (10,file='input.dat')
read(10,*)xM1
read(10,*)xM2
read(10,*)xM3
read(10,*)xK1
read(10,*)xV0
curtime=0.
read(10,*)endtime
read(10,*)dt
dt2=dt**2
curout=0.
read(10,*)dtout
mcount=0
read(10,*)epsc
read(10,*)sigy
read(10,*)Emod
epsy=sigy/Emod
read(10,*)rho0
rhoy=rho0/(1.-epsy)
rhofrnt=rho0/(1.-epsc)
read(10,*)radius
read(10,*)xLwed
read(10,*)xLcyl
close(10)
xfront=0.
area0=xpi*radius**2
Force=0.
c Time = 0
37
c Displacement
un(1)=0.
un(2)=0.
un(3)=0.
c Velocity
udn(1)=xV0
udn(2)=xV0
udn(3)=0.
c Acceleration
uddn(1)=0.
uddn(2)=0.
uddn(3)=0.
c Displacement at -dt
do i=1,3
um1(i)=-dt*udn(i)
end do
c Define output
open (10,file='output.dat')
c End Initialization, Define Time Stepping Loop
c
c Stop when acceleration of MEM gets zero
c do while (uddn(3).gt.0.0)
c
c Or stop at endtime
c
do while (curtime.lt.endtime)
c Write values for displacement, velocity and acceleration
if (curtime.ge.(curout+dtout)) then
curout=curtime
write(10,10)curtime,(un(i),udn(i),uddn(i),i=1,3),Force,xfront
mcount=mcount+1
end if
c Calculate mitigator force
cpl=(udn(2)-udn(3))/epsc
if (cpl.gt.0.) then
c Plastic region grows
dxfront=cpl*dt
xfront=xfront+dxfront
38
if (xfront.lt.xLwed) then
areac=area0*xfront/xLwed
else
areac=area0
end if
Force=sigy*areac
else
c Elasricity only; unloading
Force=Force+
* area0*Emod*(udn(2)-udn(3))*dt/(xLwed+xLcyl+un(3)-un(2)-xfront)
end if
if (Force.lt.0.) Force=0.
c Get new displacement values
xk1u=xK1*(un(1)-un(2))
up1(1)=2.*un(1)-um1(1)-dt2*xk1u/xM1
up1(2)=2.*un(2)-um1(2)+dt2*(xk1u-Force)/xM2
up1(3)=2.*un(3)-um1(3)+dt2*Force/xM3
do i=1,3
c Velocity and acceleration
udn(i)=.5*(up1(i)-um1(i))/dt
uddn(i)=(up1(i)-2.*un(i)+um1(i))/dt2
c Shift displacements in matrix
um1(i)=un(i)
un(i)=up1(i)
end do
c Step forward in time
curtime=curtime+dt
end do
c Write LS-POST output files
open (11,file='LS_POSTdis.dat')
write(11,20)
do i=1,3
rewind(10)
write (11,30)i,mcount
do j=1,mcount
read(10,*)curtime,(buff(k),k=1,10)
write(11,40)curtime, buff(3*i-2)
end do
39
write(11,50)
end do
close(11)
open (11,file='LS_POSTvel.dat')
write(11,120)
do i=1,3
rewind(10)
write (11,130)i,mcount
do j=1,mcount
read(10,*)curtime,(buff(k),k=1,10)
write(11,140)curtime, buff(3*i-1)
end do
write(11,50)
end do
close(11)
open (11,file='LS_POSTacc.dat')
write(11,220)
do i=1,3
rewind(10)
write (11,230)i,mcount
do j=1,mcount
read(10,*)curtime,(buff(k),k=1,10)
write(11,240)curtime, buff(3*i)
end do
write(11,50)
end do
close(11)
open (11,file='LS_POSTfor.dat')
write(11,320)
rewind(10)
write (11,330)mcount
do j=1,mcount
read(10,*)curtime,(buff(k),k=1,10)
write(11,340)curtime, buff(10)
end do
write(11,50)
close(11)
close(10)
40
10 format(11(E12.6,','1X),E12.6)
20 format ('Curveplot',/'ARL GUN SIMULATION',/'Time',
* /'Displacement',/'Mass')
30 format('Displ. of M',I1,' #pts=',I10)
40 format(E12.6,2X,E12.6)
50 format('endcurve')
120 format ('Curveplot',/'ARL GUN SIMULATION',/'Time',
* /'Velocity',/'Mass')
130 format('Veloc. of M',I1,' #pts=',I10)
140 format(E12.6,2X,E12.6)
220 format ('Curveplot',/'ARL GUN SIMULATION',/'Time',
* /'Acceleration',/'Mass')
230 format('Accel. of M',I1,' #pts=',I10)
240 format(E12.6,2X,E12.6)
320 format ('Curveplot',/'ARL GUN SIMULATION',/'Time',
* /'Force',/'Mass')
330 format('Contact Force',' #pts=',I10)
340 format(E12.6,2X,E12.6)
stop
end
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