Finite element modeling of energy-absorbing materials in blast-loaded structures

Energy absorbing materials such as foam or honeycomb are of interest in blast protection because of their ability to absorb energy through plastic deformation. They absorb a considerable amount of energy relative to their low density, and are investigated to determine if their energy absorbing abilities can be used to mitigate blast damage. Ballistic pendulum experiments show that energy absorbing materials increase the energy transferred from a blast. This behavior was contrary to expected results so computational models were created in LS-DYNA to understand the phenomenon that causes an increase in transferred energy. Many models using ConWep and Arbitrary-Lagrangian-Eulerian (ALE) techniques were created to test the loading methods available in LS-DYNA. Additional ConWep models were created to directly compare simulations against ballistic pendulum experiments. The ConWep model results correlate with the experiments, showing that energy absorbing materials cause an increase in energy transferred to the system.