An application of the energy partition method on the blast response of composite panels

Landmines are used in battle fields to damage military vehicles. Current vehicle applications in Out of area operations (OoA) are mainly based on steel and aluminum. These offer protection at the expenses of high weight, mobility limitations and design restrictions. A prototype of composite panel which outperforms the blast response of...

Development of a scaled vehicle underbelly blast test method

Over the last three years TNO has explored the possibilities of fiber-reinforced composites to provide vehicle underbelly protection against blast loading. This work consists of three parts: • Numerical analysis of full-scale blast loading conditions in comparison to scaled blast loading conditions. • The development of a test method suitable to...

Development of fiber-reinforced composite material for blast protection

This paper shows how standard fiber-reinforced composite materials have limited resistance against blast loading. Their relatively high brittleness in comparison to metals causes them to fail early under out-of-plane blast loading. Their failure appears to be mainly caused by exceedance of strain to failure by local bending, fully absorbing the...

Role of inertia in armour ceramics

At TNO a series of alternative experimental test set-ups and diagnostic tools for the ballistic behaviour of ceramic materials has been developed. Use of these methods for different ceramics, ceramic thicknesses, different projectiles at different impact velocities also including a wide range of backing materials at different thicknesses, has...

The role of inertia in armor ceramics

Research on armor ceramics created only limited success in its search for relations between mechanical properties and the ballistic efficiency of this class of materials. Also TNO performed research on this subject using a range of experimental test set-ups (mainly using small and mid-caliber rounds) and diagnostic tools on a range of ceramic...

Development and testing of a flexible ballistic neck protection

Sufficient ballistic protection of the neck area would significantly reduce the vulnerability of an infantry soldier. So far this protection is offered by extensions on the ballistic vest or combat helmet. However, the requirements for head agility and the various body to head positions combined with the design of current body armour solutions,...

Testing method for ceramic armour and bare ceramic tiles

TNO developed an alternative, more configuration independent ceramic test method than the Depth-of-Penetration test method. In this alternative test ceramic tiles and ceramic based armour are evaluated as target without a semi-infinite backing layer. An energy approach is chosen to evaluate and rank the target materials penetration resistance....

Scaled blast loading simulations on different vehicle bottom geometries

The development of new bottom concepts for military vehicles against mine blast threats involves the consideration of two main aspects: the bottom geometry and the material used. In order to reduce costs, experimental testing of new vehicle bottom concepts often requires small-scale setups together with numerical simulations to assist the design...

TNOs research on ceramic based armor

Several specially designed experimental techniques including an alternative test method have been developed for the evaluation of ceramic based armor. Armor grade ceramics and a range of combined materials have been tested using 7.62 AP rounds. Using the energy method [12] the dwell-time and total energy absorbed from the AP core were determined...

TNO's research on ceramic based armor

Several specially designed experimental techniques including an alternative test method have been developed for the evaluation of ceramic based armor. Armor grade ceramics and a range of combined materials have been tested using 7.62 AP rounds. Using the energy method [12] the dwell-time and total energy absorbed from the AP core were determined...

Characterization of dynamic properties of ballistic clay

In order use material models in (numerical) calculations, the mechanical properties of all materials involved should be known. At TNO an indirect method to determine the dynamic flow stress of materials has been generated by a combination of ballistic penetration tests with an energy-based engineering model. For visco-elasto-plastic materials,...

Engineering model for body armor

TNO has developed an engineering model for flexible body armor, as one of their energy based engineering models that describe the physics of projectile to target interactions (weaves, metals, ceramics). These models form the basis for exploring the possibilities for protection improvement. This presentation describes how the main physical...

Testing method for ceramic armor and bare ceramic tiles

TNO has developed an alternative, more configuration independent ceramic test method than the standard Depth-of-Penetration test method. In this test ceramic tiles and ceramic based armor are evaluated as target without a semi-infinite backing layer. An energy approach is chosen to evaluate and rank the target materials penetration resistance....

Thermal imaging during ballistic testing of armour materials

During the interaction between a projectile and a target material the kinetic energy of the projectile is transferred into elastic and plastic deformation of both the projectile and target materials. Using a rigid penetrator the loss in kinetic energy is fully converted into energy absorbed by the target, both as kinetic and strain energy. Using...

Dynamic material characterization by combining ballistic testing and an engineering model

At TNO several energy-based engineering models have been created for various failure mechanism occurring in ballistic testing of materials, like ductile hole growth, denting, plugging, etc. Such models are also under development for ceramic and fiberbased materials (fabrics). As the models are energy-based they can be directly compared to...

Time resolved engineering metal penetration models

Current tools describing behavior of ballistic materials under impact seem to be less suitable to assist armor developers in their efforts. They are insufficiently detailed or need comprehensive material properties and material failure description, unavailable in the initial stages of the development of new solutions. Therefore TNO is building a...