Impact on a Steel Sonar Dome

A representative case of damage to a steel sonar dome has been investigated by means of a finite element analysis. Since the impacting object which caused the damage is unknown, several assumptions with respect to this object had to be made: (1) shape, (2) size, (3) velocity, and (4) direction of impact. The main objective of this analysis is to estimate the contact force during impact and the deformation energy, which has been absorbed by the steel dome. The results can be useful in the design of future composite dome.