Numerical Simulation of Debris Cloud Characteristics of the Mesh Shields

The hypervelocity impact interaction of the sphere projectile with continuous shield and mesh shield, which were of the same thickness or area density, was investigated numerically. The study was aimed at mastering the hypervelocity impact characteristics of the mesh shield and applying effectively it in development of lightweight shields. The study involved the differences in the morphology and the distribution of momentum, velocity and mass of the debris clouds generated by impacting two kinds of shields. The calculations show that the morphologies of the debris cloud vary with the impact locations when a projectile impact the mesh shield, and there is the linear distribution of debris in the front of debris cloud. Comparison between the continuous shield and the mesh shield with the same thickness, the maximum of momentum density in the mesh shield is higher than that in the continuous shield, while the maximums of momentum density are almost near in the two kinds of shields with the same area density. The mesh shield does not effectively slow the penetration velocity of projectile, but can break it up. The dynamical response of the projectile varies with the shields. Impacting the mesh shield, the main part of debris is at the rear end of the debris cloud, which is different from the case of continuous shield.