Research on the Shock Response Characteristics of a Threaded Connection Using the Thin-Layer Element Method

Nonlinear factors such as the contact stiffness and friction damping at the threaded interface of a projectile–fuse system significantly affect the dynamic response characteristics. To obtain the dynamic response of the fuse body accurately during penetration, it is necessary to characterize these nonlinear factors reasonably. Because the existing structural dynamics software cannot effectively deal with nonlinear factors, the thin-layer element method was used to represent the nonlinear factors in this study. By combining the thread elastic model with thin-layer element principles, an effective method for determining the material parameters of the thin-layer element was established theoretically, which provided a different method of determining material parameters, not just relying on experiments. The accuracy of the material parameters was verified based on modal experiments with threaded tubes having different specifications. The errors were within 5%, indicating the reliability of the theoretical determination method for the material parameters. In addition, projectile penetration into a semi-infinite concrete target was tested to verify the accuracy of the thin-layer element modeling. Compared with the ‘TIED’ constraint method, the resonant frequency obtained with the thin-layer element method was in better agreement with that of the experimental data. The maximum error decreased from 15.7 to 7.8%, indicating that the thin-layer element method could accurately represent the nonlinear factors. Thus, this study serves as a reference for accurately evaluating the dynamic response of the fuse body of a penetrator.