A novel dynamic cavity expansion model to predict the resistance of reactive powder concrete (RPC) against projectile impact

The dynamic cavity expansion (DCE) model is a commonly used analytical model to predict the resistance of concrete materials subjected to projectile impact. In this paper, a modified Griffith strength criterion was proposed for reactive powder concrete (RPC), which has a form easy to solve and can well capture the tensile, compressive and triaxial strength of RPC. Combined with the Murnaghan equation of state, the proposed strength criterion was used as the material model for RPC. The cavity expansion resistance was calculated numerically and analytically. It indicates that the numerical and analytical solutions are almost consistent under the same material response. Then, the strain softening behavior that cannot be resolved analytically was further introduced into the material model, and the numerical solution of the DCE model was obtained using LS-DYNA. To verify the present method, the 122.6 MPa RPC targets were tested using 14.5 mm diameter ogival nose projectiles at impact velocities of from 286 to 942 m/s. Combined with previous penetration model, the penetration depth of the present test was predicted. In addition, numerical simulation of this penetration test adopting the HJC model was also performed. It shows predictions of the present model are in good agreement with test and simulation results. Furthermore, the present model was used to predict the existing test date of RPCs with compressive strength of between 67.5 and 140 MPa, and the effectiveness of the present method was verified by comparing with predictions of previous empirical formulas.