Holmquist-Johnson-Cook Constitutive Model Validation and Experimental Study on the Impact Response of Cellular Concrete

In a previous study by Davis and Dequenne, a Holmquist-Johnson-Cook (HJC) constitutive model for a cellular concrete with a nominal density of 1442 kg/m3 was developed from existing direct tension, uniaxial strain, and triaxial shear testing conducted at the United States Army Corps of Engineers Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) and Sandia National Laboratory (SNL). The resulting constitutive model was compared to depth of penetration results from testing conducted by Goodman at the Aberdeen Test Center with promising results. This study seeks to build on this previous work by producing depth of penetration and perforation experiments using non-deforming projectiles into a similar cellular concrete for validation of the fit HJC model. Depth of penetration experiments were conducted by firing into a 305 mm thick panel over a velocity range of 200–800 m/s with the strike velocity and depth of penetration recorded for each experiment. Perforation experiments were conducted over a range of 200–800 m/s against panels with thicknesses of 38 mm, 76 mm, and 114 mm with the strike velocity, residual velocity, and crater characteristics recorded for each experiment. 2D numerical simulations were conducted for each experiment and the results were compared for initial model validation, but additional experimental testing and simulation is required. There is error between the experimental and numerical results and a sensitivity analysis should be conducted to determine where additional testing is appropriate to improve the model’s correlation with experimental results.