Equation of State Properties of Modern Composite Materials: Modeling Shock, Release

and Spallation
W. Riedel, H. Nahme, and K. Thoma

Citation: AIP Conference Proceedings 706, 701 (2004); doi: 10.1063/1.1780335

View online: http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.1780335
View Table of Contents: http://aip.scitation.org/toc/apc/706/1
Published by the American Institute of Physics
 EQUATION OF STATE PROPERTIES OF MODERN COMPOSITE
MATERIALS: MODELING SHOCK, RELEASE AND SPALLATION

W. Riedel, H. Nahme, K. Thoma

Fraunhofer Ernst-Mach-Institut, Eckerstr. 4, D-79104 Freiburg, Germany

Abstract. As Finite-Element codes with explicit time integration schemes (Hydrocodes) are
intensively used to simulate fiber reinforced composite structures under impact loading, reliable
composite material models with thoroughly derived parameters are essential for successful simulations.
The paper describes a closed approach to derive and validate the Hugoniot curve, release properties
(Grüneisen Γ) and spall strength using a combined experimental and numerical methodology. The
method is applicable to a wide range of materials, exemplary results are shown for a high strength
Carbon-fiber / Epoxy laminate (CFRP) used in aeronautic structures and a low stiffness, highly
deformable Aramid / Epoxy protection material.

INTRODUCTION a configuration with thin target and projectile

As hydrodynamic simulations become more
sophisticated, it is necessary to develop
characterization techniques for all classes of
material behavior. Shock absorbing porous
materials, polymers, composites, weaves or rubber
type materials are only some examples of materials
which have to be simulated to replicate realistic
scenarios. It is therefore necessary to develop test
methods which are widely applicable.
THIN PLATE CONFIGURATION
The inverse plate impact configuration is very
well suited to derive shock and release data for a
range of material types [1]. In this configuration a
disc-shaped sample together with a backing plate
impacts a target plate of known shock and release
properties. In the present study steel target plates
and aluminum backing plates have been used. With
a VISAR (Velocity Interferometer System for Any
Reflector, [2]) the velocity of the rear target surface
was recorded. The wave propagation properties for
backing plates and the resulting stress / particle-
velocity states are illustrated by the Lagrange – and
σ-up-diagrams given in Figure 1. The different σ-
up-states are denoted by numbers for the target
plate, letters for the composite material and roman
numbers for the backing plate. Upon impact,
composite and target plate are shocked to the
Hugoniot state <1,b>. Reflection of the pressure
wave at the target rear surface results in the
released state <2> and provides a velocity increase
to u2 recorded with the VISAR. Velocity-time
histories for two tests with different impact
velocities are shown in Figure 2. From this first
velocity step the shock state is derived using the
equation of state properties of the steel target plate
(e.g. bulk sound speed cB and slope S). The free
surface approximation up,1~0.5u2 is well applicable
for the compact steel target. Using the continuity
conditions for stress and particle velocity across the
material boundary steel-composite, the Hugoniot
state <b> and the shock velocity Us in the CFRP is
derived from the velocity step u2 according to
1  1 
2
(1)
σ =ρ c u +ρ S  u  
1,b steel B , steel
2
2

steel steel
2
2


CP706, Shock Compression of Condensed Matter - 2003, edited by M. D. Furnish, Y. M. Gupta, and J. W. Forbes
© 2004 American Institute of Physics 0-7354-0181-0/04/$22.00
701
 b a c k in g s a m p le ta r g e t
s tre s s σ ta rg e t c o m p re ssio n
ta rg e t r e le a s e tim e t
sa m p le co m p re ssio n
sa m p le r e le a se
f ,II b a c k in g c o m p re ssio n 14
15
b a c k in g re le as e k
l 12
j
i 10
1 ,b IV h
g
III f
e 8
II
III g 7
d 6
h 1 2 ,l 5
3 ,c i
14 c 4
k
5 ,d 3
7 ,e b 2
11
a 1
a,I I
0
0 2 4 13 15
p a rtic le v e lo c ity u p lo c a tio n X
FIGURE 1. Lagrange and σ-up-diagram of a reverse plate impact to derive lower Hugoniot and release properties.

shown in terms of a shock velocity / particle

and velocity relationship (full symbols) in Figure 3.
U s , steel ρ steel u 2 Except for two very low shock states we notice in
Us = (2)
ρ composite (2v 0 − u 2 ) reasonable approximation linear increasing Us-up-
characteristics for both the structural and the
respectively. protective composites.
The first release wave propagating back into the 6000
recentered shock states
target is partially reflected at the steel-composite 5000
derived from u2 (numerical integration)

boundary as a pressure wave and partially

shock velocity Us (m/s)

Us = 1.41 up + 2544
transmitted as release wave. Subsequent reflections 4000
cause the stepwise velocity increase of the steel cP
3000
target plate observed with the VISAR. The cP
Us = 2.10 up + 1562.3
cB
transmitted release waves result in a stepwise 2000
unloading of the composite material. cB
CFRP
1000
Aramid Epoxy
0
0 250 500 750 1000 1250 1500
backing reflection <15> particle velocity up (m/s)

FIGURE 3. Hugoniot curve (Us-up relation) of CFRP.

release
<4,6,8,10,> The original compressive wave in the composite
meanwhile propagates upstream. Encountering the
shock states <2> backing plate it is reflected as a pressure wave back
through the sample and the target causing the
distinct velocity change u15 of the target surface.
So far, the release isentrope has not been directly
FIGURE 2. Experimental velocity-time histories and derived from the velocity steps u4, u6, u8 etc.
replication of shock, release and reflected shock states in Different approximations for the Grueneisen
numerical simulations (see text below).
coefficient have been tested and validated against
the release states measured in the tests. The best
The points of the Hugoniot curve for the composite
reproduction of the subsequent release states <3,c>,
material determined from the first velocity step are

702
<5,d>, <7,e> is obtained using the simple approach The shock state <1,b> caused by the initial
given by Dugdale and MacDonald [3],(3). pressure wave is derived as for the thin plate
configuration.
Γ ≈ 2S −1 (3)
One-dimensional hydrocode simulations of the
plane shock conditions using the described
Hugoniot and release data show excellent
agreement with respect to timing and level of the
velocity plateaus associated with Hugoniot states 3rd shock <4>
<1,b>, release states <3,c>, <5,d>, <7,e> and states
<f,II> caused by the reflected shock and resulting
in the velocity u15 (see Figure 3, v0 = 339 and
1st shock <2>
993 m/s respectively).

SHOCK REVERBERATION FIGURE 5. Velocity-time histories and replication of

multiple shock states from numerical simulations of
So far the maximum shock pressures are limited reverberation tests.
to 5.3 GPa. With respect to higher impact
velocities e.g. in space applications a con- The reflected higher shock states were simulated
figuration with a thin composite plate and thick extrapolating the Hugoniot curve of Figure 3. The
target and backing plates was used to reach higher third Hugoniot state <3,d> can be validated against
stress states (Fig. 4). The recorded velocity-time the timing and velocity level of the measurement
histories are displayed in Figure 5 together with the velocity signal u4 (see Figure 5). We note good
results of the numerical simulations. agreement of the simulations using this
Release waves from the free surfaces of target approximation. On this basis, the second shock
and backing take a long time to reach the sample state <II,c>, not accessible to VISAR
plate and the initial pressure wave is reflected at measurements, can be evaluated from numerical
the composite plate surfaces compressing the simulations. For impact velocities up to 390 m/s,
material in several steps to the states denoted by good agreement is observed also for the late times
<II,c>, <3,d> etc. Those stress levels, caused by response of the impact process. Maximum
wave reflection at the interface composite-target, pressures of 11.3 GPa were reached. The derived
can be determined from the velocity steps u4 and u6 re-centered shock states are added to Figure 3.
of the free target surface. In the case of the higher impact velocities (up to
1018 m/s), later states cannot be compared because
stress σ target compression time t
7 of the target steel experiencing a crystal phase
target release
Hexcel compression
6 transition at about 13.5 GPa.
Hexcel release
projectile 5
3,d
compression III
II,c 4
SPALLATION / DELAMINATION
1,b
d
II 3 2
c
The spallation configuration is the third plate
1 impact technique to complete the shock and release
I
b
properties with respect to dynamic through
0
2 4 6 v0
thickness failure. In this configuration the
particle velocity u p location X
composite sample was impacted by a thin metal
FIGURE 4. Shock reverberation configuration using thick flyer. The ratios of plate thicknesses and shock
witness and backing plates to derive higher Hugoniot velocities are adapted to obtain superposition of
states (elastic waves are omitted). release waves from the target free surface and from

703
the projectile rear surface to cause high tension
stress and finally spallation. The delamination
strength increases from the quasi static value of 45
MPa to around 95±25 MPa (Aramid / Epoxy) and
250±12 MPa (CFRP) at strain rates of 150000 s-1.
Figure 6 shows a delaminated sample softly
recovered for further examination. As delamination
is a primary failure mechanism of composites,
these results are very important for the calculation
of impact damage.
FIGURE 6. Dynamic delamination of a CFRP-sample
APPLICATIONS
The above CFRP material data has been
employed in studies on the survivability of modern
high strength aircraft components [4]. Figure 7
shows a wing structure with 9 co-bonded and
bolted T spars after impact of 120 steel fragments
(1.5g) (upper left) and loading by the blast of
0.3 kg high explosive at a distance of 50 cm.
High material costs for composites and the
large range of loading scenarios (location, relative
velocity, distance, fuel fill level) make numerical
simulations a valuable tool for time and cost
efficient parameter analysis of such configurations.
fragments
blast
FIGURE 7. Top: Fragment generation and impact onto
wing structure (seen from above). Bottom: Side view of
test configuration and simulated damage
704
The results of the coupled simulations are:
• Coupled calculations of the effects of 100
fragment impacts and a blast wave are feasible
with parallelized hydrocodes [5].
• Location and distribution of fragments are well
reproduced.
• Extent of delamination and structural
degradation are simulated qualitatively
correctly but quantitatively are too small in
their total effects [4].
CONCLUSIONS
A suite of different plate impact experiments
has been applied to derive low and extreme
Hugoniot stresses, release states and dynamic
delamination strength of two modern composite
materials. By this methodology the area of the
equation state surface relevant for shock and
impact applications can be determined. The reverse
plate impact technique allows the above analysis of
any new material without any assumptions on its
mechanical behaviour.
Numerical simulations of aeronautical
applications show that the material data can well
reproduce the momentum conservation during
impact and shock loading. Next step will be the
combination of nonlinear shock compressibility
with state of the art composite failure models to
accurately replicate strength decrease.
REFERENCES
1. Grady D.E., Furnish M.D.: Shock and Release Wave
Properties of MJ-2 Grout. Sandia National
Laboratories Rept., SAND88-1642, 1988
2. Barker, L. M., and Hollenback, R. E., “Laser
Interferometer for Measuring High Velocities of
any Reflective Surface”, J. of Applied Physics 43,
4669, 1972.
3. Dugdale J.S., MacDonald D.: The Thermal
Expansion of Solids. Physics Revues, Vol. 89, 1953,
S. 832-834
4. W. Riedel, K. Thoma, A. Kurtz, P. Collins, L.
Greaves, Vulnerability of Composite Aircraft
Components to Fragmenting Warheads, 20th Int.
Symp. Ballistics, 2002, pp. 702
5. N.N., AUTODYN, Theory Manual, Century
Dynamics Ltd. Horsham, UK, 2003