Experimentation and numerical modeling on the response of woven glass/epoxy composite plate under blast impact loading

Background Composite material is being used in vehicles for protective structures against blast loading. Limited data is available which compare experimental works and numerical analysis in the open field environment. More data is needed in this area in order to be able to predict and use composite materials safely. Methods In this work, the response of woven glass/epoxy composite plates under blast loading was investigated, both experimentally and numerically. The plate was manufactured using glass/epoxy woven Cytec 120 degrees C curing system. The explosive material was Tri-Nitro-Toluen (TNT) with different masses, which are 60, 80, and 100 g. The stand-off distance was also varied, ranging from 300 up to 1000 mm. In the experimental work, a sewing needle pin was put under the plate to record the maximum deformation of the plate during TNT explosion. In the numerical analysis, LS-DYNA was used extensively. The composite plate was modeled as shell elements using MAT54, and the failure criteria was Chang-Chang failure criteria. The explosive TNT material was modeled in two different ways. First, it was modeled using CONWEP and the second was modeled using Smooth Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH). The numerical analysis results were then compared with the experimental data for the case of maximum deformation. Results Experimentally, the sewing needle method was able to measure the plate maximum deformation during the explosion. The numerical analysis showed that the SPH model gave better agreement with experimental results compared with CONWEP method. The SPH results were in the range of 8-18% compared to experimental data, while the CONWEP results were in the range of 14-43%. Conclusion Albeit its simplicity, sewing needle method was able to measure the maximum deformation for blast loading experimentation. The SPH model was better compared with CONWEP method in analyzing the response of composite plate subjected to blast loading.