Effect of tongue clearance on hydraulic performance of double support vortex pump

In order to study influence of tongue clearance on the hydraulic performance of double support vortex pump, three dimensional flow model with symmetric variable size tongue clearance was established by changing section parameter of tongue clearance, and applied to numerically simulate the steady inner flow in a vortex pump based on fixed working conditions and impeller through ANSYS FLUENT. The numerical results show the influence of tongue channel with two sections (non-uniform and uniform sections) on flow field characteristics in vortex pump. Firstly, the variation of tongue channel section changes the vortex structure distribution in circumferential flow channel. Specifically the spiral forward vortex structure in the circumferential direction shifts to large radius side with increasing tongue width. Secondly, the circumferential velocity gradient and axial pressure gradient both diminish with the increase of the tongue section, and the inlet/outlet pressure difference and velocity distribution also reduce with increasing tongue channel section. Finally, for vortex pump with non-uniform section of tongue channel, the head diminishes and the efficiency remains constant approximately with the increase of the tongue width, while the head and the efficiency both diminish for uniform section of tongue channel.     

Influence of shaped charge structure parameters on the formation of linear explosively formed projectiles

The research of LEFP (linear explosive forming projectile) is of great value to the development of new warhead due to its excellent performance. To further improve the damage ability of the shaped charge warhead, a special shell overhanging structure was designed to increase the charge based on the traditional spherical charge, in which case the crushing energy of LEFP could be guaranteed. LS-DYNA was used to simulate different charge structures obtained by changing the number of detonation points, the length of shell platform, the radius of curvature and the thickness of liner. The RSM (response surface model) between the molding parameters of LEFP and the structural parameters of charge was established. Based on RSM model, the structure of shaped charge was optimized by using multi-objective genetic algorithm. Meanwhile, the formation process of jet was analyzed by pulsed X-ray photography. The results show that the velocity, length-diameter ratio and specific kinetic energy of the LEFP were closely related to the structural parameters of the shaped charge. After the optimization of charge structure, the forming effect and penetration ability of LEPP had been significantly improved. The experimental data of jet velocity and length were consistent with the numerical results, which verifies the reliability of the numerical results.     

Reduction of global effects on vehicles after IED detonations

Global effects caused by the detonation of an IED near a military vehicle induce subsequent severe acceleration effects on the vehicle occupants. Two concepts to minimize these global effects were developed, with the help of a combined method based on a scaled experimental technology and numerical simulations. The first concept consists in the optimization of the vehicle shape to reduce the momentum transfer and thus the occupant loading. Three scaled V-shaped vehicles with different ground clearances were built and compared to a reference vehicle equipped with a flat floor. The second concept, called dynamic impulse compensation (DIC), is based on a momentum compensation technique. The principal possibility of this concept was demonstrated on a scaled vehicle. In addition, the numerical simulations have been performed with generic full size vehicles including dummy models, proving the capability of the DIC technology to reduce the occupant loading.     

Nitrogen analogs of TEX – A computational study

TEX, a well-known nitramine type explosive, has been subjected to centric perturbations by replacing its etheric (acetal) oxygens with nitrogen atoms one by one. The structural features, stabilities and IR and UV-VIS spectra of new structures formed are investigated. For this purpose, density functional theory has been employed at the B3LYP/6-31G (d,p) and B3LYP/6-311G(d) levels. In general the calculations revealed that the oxygen–nitrogen replacement resulted in more energetic but less sensitive structures than TEX.     

Modeling of the whole process of shock wave overpressure of free-field air explosion

The waveform of the explosion shock wave under free-field air explosion is an extremely complex problem. It is generally considered that the waveform consists of overpressure peak, positive pressure zone and negative pressure zone. Most of current practice usually considers only the positive pressure. Many empirical relations are available to predict overpressure peak, the positive pressure action time and pressure decay law. However, there are few models that can predict the whole waveform. The whole process of explosion shock wave overpressure, which was expressed as the product of the three factor functions of peak, attenuation and oscillation, was proposed in the present work. According to the principle of explosion similarity, the scaled parameters were introduced and the empirical formula was absorbed to form a mathematical model of shock wave overpressure. Parametric numerical simulations of free-field air explosions were conducted. By experimental verification of the AUTODYN numerical method and comparing the analytical and simulated curves, the model is proved to be accurate to calculate the shock wave overpressure under free-field air explosion. In addition, through the model the shock wave overpressure at different time and distance can be displayed in three dimensions. The model makes the time needed for theoretical calculation much less than that for numerical simulation.     

Mitigation of the blast load effects on a building structure using newly composite structural configurations

In this study, a nonlinear three-dimensional hydrocode numerical simulation was carried out using AUTODYN-3D to investigate the effect of blasting of a high explosive material (TNT) against several configurations of the composite structure. Several numerical models were carried out to study the effect of varying the thickness of the walls and the effect of adding an air layer or aluminum foam layer inside two layers of concrete in mitigating the effect of blast waves on the structure walls. The results showed that increasing the thickness of walls has a good effect on mitigating the effect of blast waves. When a layer of air was added, the effect of blast waves was exaggerated, while when a layer of aluminum foam was added the blast wave effects were mitigated with a reasonable percentage.     

Combustion characteristic and aging behavior of bimetal thermite powders

Nanothermites have been employed as fuel additives in energetic formulations due to their higher en-ergy density over CHNO energetics. Nevertheless, sintering and degradation of nanoparticles signifi-cantly limit the practical use of nanothermites. In this work, combustion characteristic and aging behavior of aluminum/iron oxide (Al/Fe2O3) nanothermite mixtures were investigated in the presence of micron-scale nickel aimed to produce bimetal thermite powders. The results showed that the alumina content in the combustion residue increased from 88.3％ for Al/Fe2O3 nanothermite to 96.5％ for the nanothermite mixture containing 20 wt％nickel. Finer particle sizes of combustion residue were obtained for the nanothermite mixtures containing nickel, indicative of the reduced agglomeration. Both results suggested a more complete combustion in the bimetal thermite powders. Aging behavior of the nano-thermite mixture was also assessed by measuring the heat of combustion of the mixture before and after aging process. The reduction in heat of combustion of nanothermite mixtures containing nickel was less severe as compared to a significant decrease for the nanothermite mixture without nickel, indicating better aging resistance of the bimetal thermite powders.     

侧壁式气垫船水压场数值计算

建立了侧壁式气垫船水压场计算的物理和数学模型,并提出了相应的求解方法．在侧壁高度与水深之比较小时,进行了数值求解,并将计算结果与实验作了比较,两者符合较好．     

Microcrack- and microvoid-related impact damage and ignition responses for HMX-based polymer-bonded explosives at high temperature

Investigating the damage and ignition behaviors of polymer-bonded explosive (PBX) under a coupled impact and high-temperature loading condition is required for the safe use of charged PBXs. An improved combined microcrack and microvoid model (CMM) was developed for better describing the thermal effects of deformation, damage, and ignition responses of PBXs. The main features of the model under typical dynamic loadings (i.e. uniaxial tension and compression, and lateral confinement) at different initial temperature were first studied. And then the effects of temperature on impact-shear sensitivity of HMX-based PBXs were investigated. The results showed that the ignition threshold velocity of shear-crack hotspots exhibits an increase from 260 to 270 to 315–325 m/s when initial temperature increases from 301 to 348 K; and then the threshold velocity decreases to 290–300 m/s with the initial temperature continually increasing to 378 K. The predicted ignition threshold velocity level of the explosives under coupled impact and high temperature loading conditions were consistent with the experimental data.     

Dielectric constant predictions for energetic materials using quantum calculations

The dielectric constant (DC) is one of the key properties for detection of threat materials such as Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs). In the present paper, the density functional theory (DFT) as well as ab-initio approaches are used to explore effective methods to predict dielectric constants of a series of 12 energetic materials (EMs) for which experimental data needed to experimentally determine the dielectric constant (refractive indices) are available. These include military grades energetic materials, nitro and peroxide compounds, and the widely used nitroglycerin. Ab-initio and DFT calculations are conducted. In order to calculate dielectric constant values of materials, potential DFT functional combined with basis sets are considered for testing. Accuracy of the calculations are compared to experimental data listed in the scientific literature, and time required for calculations are both evaluated and discussed. The best functional/basis set combinations among those tested are CAM-B3LYP and AUG-cc-pVDZm, which provide great results, with accuracy deviations below 5% when calculated results are compared to experimental data.