International Journal of Impact Engineering 46 (2012) 97e109

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International Journal of Impact Engineering

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ijimpeng

Response of V-shape plates to localised blast load: Experiments and numerical

simulation
S. Chung Kim Yuen*, G.S. Langdon, G.N. Nurick, E.G. Pickering, V.H. Balden
Blast Impact and Survivability Research Unit (BISRU), Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Cape Town, Private Bag, 7701 Rondebosch, Cape Town, South Africa

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: The experimental results and numerical simulations of “V” shape plates of different included angles (60
,
Received 1 June 2011 90
, 120
, 150
and 180
(flat plates)) subjected to localised blast load are presented in this paper. The
Received in revised form results of simplified numerical models, carried out using Ansys/AutoDYN, are validated with experiments
23 January 2012
for deflection. The specimens are made from Domex 700 steel plates folded along the centre to provide
Accepted 14 February 2012
different included angles and a constant projected area of 300  300 mm. Geometric scaling, based on
Available online 24 February 2012
the size of the Casspir Armoured Personnel Carrier (APC) and TM-57 anti-tank mine, is applied to the “V”
shape plates to determine stand-off distance and the size of the explosive (PE4) disc used in the
Keywords:
V-shape plate
experiments. The range of masses of explosive used includes the scaled mass of a TM-57 anti-tank mine
Blast load to the same ratio of the ground clearance of the Casspir APC using the HopkinsoneCranz blast scale law.
Structural response Different masses of explosive are used to provide results ranging from large inelastic deformation of the
plate to tearing. A general trend of increasing permanent mid-point deflection is observed for an increase
in charge mass at a constant stand-off distance. While the measured impulse does not significantly
change, an increase in mid-point deflection is observed with a decrease in stand-off distance for
a constant mass of explosive. The results showed that smaller inclusive angles deflect more blast energy
resulting in lower mid-point plate deflection. The predictions show encouraging correlation with
experimental data for the displacement profile.
Ó 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction the structure) it is assumed that the structure deflects an insignif-

According to the Landmine Monitor Report 2009 [1], more than
70 states are believed to be mine-affected. The use of landmines
and Improvised Explosive Devices (IED) highlights the need for
better mine resistant vehicles, especially for peace-keeping forces
and the demining effort. Accordingly, the investigation on the use
of plated structures as a means to deflect the resultant blast pres-
sure wave from an explosion becomes more significant.
When subjected to an air blast, a plate structure may behave in
different ways e deflecting some or all of the blast pressure
concurrent with deformation, or tearing of the plate occurring
either at the supports or in the central area. Flat plates (circular or
quadrangular or stiffened) subjected to blast loading (either
uniform or localised) have been widely reported eboth experi-
mentally and numerically with satisfactory correlation Refs. [2e9].
In the case of flat plates (illustrated in Fig. 1(a)) where the blast
pressure acts transversely to the plate (blast load acts head-on with
* Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: steevecky@gmail.com, steeve.chungkimyuen@uct.ac.za
(S. Chung Kim Yuen).
icant amount of the blast pressure. The structural response is,
therefore, a result of the full blast load intensity.
In the case where the blast loading condition is not perpendic-
ular to the plate (oblique blast loading), few studies have been
published in the open literature. A typical example of an oblique
blast loading condition (illustrated in Fig. 1(b)) would be the “V”
shaped hull of a landmine vehicle subjected to a landmine blast.
The “V” shape hull, often used as blast deflector on landmine
vehicles such as the Casspir APC, would be an oblique target to
a head-on blast. The “V” shape hulls are a means to deflect the
resulting pressure from an explosion outwards. Moreover, a portion
of the deflected pressure has a horizontal component (using the
directions shown in Fig. 1(b) as a reference) which does not
contribute to the global impulse transfer to the vehicle, thus
offering potential protective benefit to the occupants. There are
many vehicles that use the “V” shape hull technologies as blast
mitigation and are readily available in the market.
Investigations concerning the choice of the most appropriate
included angles to offer the highest level of protection for “V”
shaped hull vehicles are not readily available in the open literature.
Nor are the design process or calculation method used for

0734-743X/$ e see front matter Ó 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.ijimpeng.2012.02.007
98 S. Chung Kim Yuen et al. / International Journal of Impact Engineering 46 (2012) 97e109
Fig. 1. Schematics illustrating assumed blast target interactions.
determining the angle in commercially available vehicles. However,
there are a few published studies investigating the response of “V”
shape plates to blast load.
Nurick and Lockley [10] carried out experiments to evaluate the
effect of the included angle in a folded “V” shape plate for blast
resistance. Explosive strips ranging from 2.5 g to 13 g in mass were
used to load “V” shape plates of different included angles from 60

to 180
in increments of 30
. A ballistic pendulum was used to
measure the impulse imparted to the “V” shaped plates. Based
upon the impulse measurement, it was found that decreasing the
included angle resulted in lower impulse measurements, inferring
that greater portions of the blast wave were deflected. Genson [11]
and Benedetti [12] both carried out very small scale experiments to
investigate mitigation effects of “V” shaped hulls to buried charges.
Genson [11] investigated the effect of variations in plate angle
ranging from 140
to 180
included angle, stand-off distance
ranging from 0 to 1.5 inch (0e38 mm) and depth of burial ranging
from 0.04 to 0.5 inch (1e12.7 mm). Charges of 0.636 g were buried
and detonated in a sand pit with the specimen suspended in air.
Analysis of high-speed digital camera footage of the blast was used
to determine the impulse applied to the structure. A reduction of up
to 45% in impulse was recorded with a change in the geometry of
the target. For a given stand-off distance and depth of burial Genson
[11] reported “an angle beyond which there was no reduction in
total impulse applied to the plate over the range of variables
investigated”. Benedetti [12] carried out experiments with similar
variables to Genson [11] with a view to investigate methods for
mitigating the blast effects on the floorboard. The use of foam to
either fill the gap between the floorboard and the hull or to isolate
the floorboard from the hull was investigated. “The use of foam did
not have positive mitigation effects” [12], based on the calculated
Fig. 2. Schematics of experimental set-up, showing (a) a cross-section view of the explosive configuration, and (b) a 3-D view of a clamped V-plate specimen.
acceleration experienced by the floorboard. The acceleration profile
was obtained by differentiating the velocity profile recorded by the
use of bar magnet velocity gauges. Anderson et al. [13] recently
reported on experiments where butt welded “V” shape plates with
included angles of 90
and 120
were subjected to buried HE
charges of 625 g of Comp B explosives to simulate landmine blast
effects. It was observed that less momentum was transferred to the
plate with the smaller included angle.
Predictions using computational and numerical techniques of
the large deformation and tearing of plate structural components,
as a result of a blast load, have also been reported in the literature,
for example Refs. [14e24]. For “V” shaped plates, Gurumurthy [25]
developed simplified two-dimensional and three-dimensional
computational models to investigate the blast effects on vehicular
structures, which were not validated with any experiments. The
effect of the vehicle hull shape on net impulse loading was analysed
and optimised over varying blast intensities. Concave and
convexeconcave shape hulls showed a significant reduction in the
impulse acting on the sides of the vehicle. The “V” shape hulls
provided the best performance in reducing the peak head-on
impulse. Further analysis on the “V” shape hull suggested that
head-on impulses were nearly constant and minimum for a range
of stand-off distances.
This paper presents the results of an experimental and numer-
ical investigation into the large inelastic deformation of ‘V’ shaped
plates subjected to localised blast load detonated in the centre of
the plate. “V” shaped plates of different included angles are studied
evaluated against a flat plate. The cylindrical disc of the explosive
(PE4) is scaled from a TM-57 anti-tank mine to the same ratio as the
size of the specimen scaled to the hull of the CASSPIR, as a base for
geometric scaling. Similar geometric scaling can be applied to any
 S. Chung Kim Yuen et al. / International Journal of Impact Engineering 46 (2012) 97e109 99

mine and vehicle. Different masses of explosives are used to Table 2

provide results ranging from large inelastic deformation of the Summary of mass of explosive scaling.

plate to tearing. Additional tests are carried out at various stand-off Casspir Experiments
distances for the 120
V plate to investigate the effect of stand-off R (m) (applicable to both load) 0.410 0.050 0.034
distance on the structural response.
W (kg) (TM-57 anti-tank mine) 6.34 0.012 0.004
Z (m/kg1/3) 0.22
2. Experimental design
Equivalent PE4 (g) 9 3

2.1. Blast test method W (kg) e design 14 0.025 0.008

Z (m/kg1/3) 0.170
Scaled V-shaped plates were mounted to a ballistic pendulum by Equivalent PE4 (g) 19 6
clamping along two sides, as shown in Fig. 2. The scaling and plate
dimensions are described in the following section. The plastic
PE4 explosive is equivalent to 1.3 kg of TNT explosive[28]) are used
explosive (PE4) disc is centrally positioned by means of a poly-
to scale 6.34 kg TNT (equivalent to a TM-57 anti-tank mine) and
styrene “bridge” at the ridge of the “V” shaped plate, as illustrated in
14 kg TNT (design parameter) detonated under the belly of a Cass-
Fig. 2. Different explosive loading conditions were generated by
pir APC (at a 410 mm ground clearance).
varying the stand-off distance and charge mass. An electrical
detonator is used to detonate the explosive disc. This method is R
similar to that used in many previous experimental investigations Z ¼ (1)
W 1=3
[3e5,8], however, it should be noted that unlike other experiments
by Nurick et al. [3e5,8], the polystyrene is not between the explosive In the experiments reported herein, the detonation of a disc of
and the specimen. The amplitude of the swing of the ballistic plastic explosive (PE4) subjects the test specimens to an impulsive
pendulum is recorded and used to determine the initial velocity of load. The HopkinsoneCranz blast scaling law[27], given in Eq. (1), is
the pendulum upon detonation and the imparted impulse. used to scale down these charges at two stand-off distances (50 and
34 mm) to provide a reference charge mass of 12 g and 4 g in the
2.2. Using geometric scaling to determine the test parameters experiments. As shown in Table 2, the masses of PE4 of 3 g and 9 g

Geometric scaling is used to determine the critical test parame-

Table 3
ters, including plate dimensions, load diameter and stand-off
Blast loading results.
distance, based on the dimensions of the Casspir APC hull and
a TM-57 anti-tank mine. Casspir APC landmine vehicles have been Included Mass of Stand-off Impulse Mid-point
angle PE4 (g) distance (mm) (Ns) deflection (mm)
certified to protect its occupants against a 14 kg TNT blast under its
armoured monocoque “V” shape hull [10].” The width of a Casspir 60
19 34 17.40 0.31
29 18 24.70 2.27
APC (2500 mm)[26] scaled to the width of the “V” shape plate
29 34 25.84 1.50
specimen (300 mm) resulted in a ratio of 8.33:1. This geometric scale 40 34 33.29 2.23
ratio is then applied to the ground clearance (referred to as stand-off 45 34 33.14 2.02
distance and defined as distance between the tip of the ‘V’ and the 58 34 39.52 1.35
closest face of the explosive) and load diameter of the charge. The
90
19 34 20.71 3.64
Casspir APC ground clearance of 410 mm scales to an initial test
29 34 28.95 9.03
stand-off distance of 50 mm. The TM-57 Anti-Tank Mine diameter of 40 34 37.48 11.65
316 mm scales to a load diameter of 38 mm. The stand-off distance is 14.5 50 16.00 0.71
later reduced to 34 mm in most experiments because the 50 mm 29 50 27.62 2.56
stand-off distance produced negligible deflections for the charge 58 50 49.57 4.65

mass used. Table 1 summarises the experimental parameters.

120
19 34 23.10 17.74
The test specimens, made from Domex 700 Steel, are 2 mm thick 29 18 34.83 Torn
and folded along the centre line of the plate to provide included 29 26 32.75 38.33
angles of 60
, 90
, 120
, 150
and 180
(flat plates) and a constant 29 34 33.76 31.01
projected area of 300  300 mm. 29 34 33.76 31.01
29 42 32.94 24.76
29 50 32.31 14.29
2.3. Using HopkinsoneCranz scaling to determine the charge mass 35 34 37.08 42.66
range 40 34 40.28 51.09
45 34 44.97 38.98
50 34 50.21 40.17
The scaled distance (Z), shown in Eq. (1), is the most common
form of blast scaling and was developed by Hopkinson and Cranz 150
5 34 7.30 6.28
[27] based on the stand-off distance (R) and the scaled TNT weight 10 34 13.29 17.51
parameter (W). Eq. (1) and the PE4-TNT weight equivalence (1 kg of 12.5 34 18.53 28.47
14.5 34 21.70 28.81
17 34 25.04 30.97
Table 1 19 34 26.49 Torn
Summary of geometric scaling.
180
5 34 9.60 8.42
Casspir APC TM-57 anti-tank Experiments 10 34 18.68 16.12
mine 14.5 34 24.55 24.26
Size (mm) 2500 300 19 34 30.11 38.72
Stand-off distance (mm) 410 50 21 34 33.33 37.38
Explosive diameter (mm) 316 38 23 34 36.69 37.88
100 S. Chung Kim Yuen et al. / International Journal of Impact Engineering 46 (2012) 97e109

Fig. 3. Photograph showing different failure modes: (a) large inelastic deformation (29 g PE4 at 50 mm stand-off distance); (b) tearing (58 g PE4 at 26 mm stand-off distance).

for the 34 mm and 50 mm stand-off distance represent blast loads
similar to those produced by the TM-57 landmine respectively.
Increasing the explosive charge mass to values of 19 g and 6 g made
the tests representative of the 14 kg TNT load condition (design
limit), for the 50 mm and 34 mm stand-off distances respectively.
During the experiments, different masses of PE4, ranging from
5 g to 58 g, are used to provide structural responses ranging from
large inelastic deformation to tearing of the structure. As demon-
strated, this explosive mass range encompasses and goes beyond
the blast intensities that would be produced at “full scale” by the
TM-57 anti-tank mine or 14 kg TNT charge [27]. Additional exper-
iments are carried out at various stand-off distances, ranging from
18 to 50 mm, for the 120
V-shape plates.
plates. A higher mid-point deflection is observed for a lower
measured impulse compared to the plates subjected to charges of
45 g and 50 g respectively. Also included in the experiments, a series
of test to investigate the effect of stand-off distance for a constant
mass of explosive (discussed in more details in Section 6).
4. Formulation of the numerical simulation
The numerical analysis was carried out using Ansys/AutoDYN
which is specifically designed for non-linear dynamic analysis
(incorporating Euler, Lagrange and Arbitrary Lagrange Euler (ALE)
mesh solvers) and widely used to simulate blast loading [15,18e24].

3. Experimental results

Table 3 lists a summary of all the blast tests carried out on the
“V” shape plates with various charge masses and stand-off
distances. In all the tests where tearing does not occur, failure is
characterised by a global saddle like deformation with slight
folding occurring at the ridge for the folded plate (see Fig. 3). The
deformation of the flat plate (180
included angle) is characterised
by an inner dome superimposed on the global dome; typical for
response for plates subjected to localised blast load [5,8].
Symmetrical deformation prevails for larger included angles. In the
case of smaller included angles, the ridge of the “V” shape plates
tends to bend to one side. Fig. 3 shows the two different extreme
responses of the “V” shape plate to localised blast load; Fig. 3(a)
depicts large inelastic deformation and Fig. 3(b) shows tearing in
the centre of the plate.
Photographs of 120
“V” plates cross-sections are shown in Fig. 4,
for plates subjected to different charge masses at a constant stand-
off distance of 34 mm. Generally, the mid-point deflection increases
with increasing explosive mass. Fig. 5 shows a plot of the defor-
mation profile along the mid-line cross-section for the plates shown
in Fig. 4. Asymmetrical deformation can be observed in the profile at Fig. 4. Photograph showing the crosscut profiles of 120
“V” plates subjected to
the ridge of the plate. The “V” shape plate subjected to 40 g of PE4 various mass of explosive at 34 mm stand-off distance (mass of PE4 from the top
appears to be out of experimental trend compared to the other downwards: 19 g, 29 g, 35 g, 40 g, 45 g, 50 g).
 S. Chung Kim Yuen et al. / International Journal of Impact Engineering 46 (2012) 97e109
Fig. 5. Crosscut deformation profiles of 120
“V” plates subjected to various mass of explosive at 34 mm stand-off distance.
4.1. Geometry of the “V” shape plates
A quarter of the ‘V’ shape plate, shown in Fig. 6, was modelled,
taking advantage of symmetry, using shell elements based on the
Mindlin shell theory. The number of elements used in the model has
a significant effect on the numerical simulation. For the quarter
model 6450 elements are used to model the plates. The mesh is
biased towards the centre of the plate where the explosive is deto-
nated and most deformation occurs. The artificial thickness of the
shell is at least twice the size of the smallest cell in the surrounding
Euler grid. All degrees of freedom are fully constrained at the flat
section of the plate to simulate the clamped boundary conditions.
4.2. Material properties for the “V” shape plates
The Johnson and Cook [29] material model is used. The model
describes the material flow stress in the form shown in Eqs.(2) and
(3), as a function of strain, strain rate, and temperature. The model
assumes the strength of the material is isotropic and independent
of mean stress.
" !#
h  n i 3_ pl  m
s ¼ AþB 3
pl
1 þ Cln 1^
q (2)
3_ 0
 
^m T  300 K
q ¼
Tmelt  300 K
where s is the yield stress at non zero strain rate, 3 pl is the equiv-
pl
alent plastic strain, 3_ is the normalised equivalent plastic strain
rate, T is the material temperature (K) and Tmelt is the melting
temperature of the material.
The constants A, B, n, C, m, and 3_ 0 are material dependant
parameters and may be determined from an empirical fit of flow
stress data. A, B and n are obtained from uni-axial tensile test of the
Domex 700 steel. Since there is no data available for the Domex 700
steel in the Ansys/AutoDYN library the values of C and Tmelt of Steel
4340 are chosen because of its similarity in yield stress (Steel 4340 has
Fig. 6. Quarter model of the “V” shape plate highlighted in red. (For interpretation of
the references to colour in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the web version
of this article.)
101
a yield stress of 792 MPa. Domex 700 has a yield stress of 818 MPa).
Table 4 lists the material dependant parameters used in the model.
4.3. Modelling the blast
The air and PE4 are modelled using an Eulerian solver, which is
fully coupled with the shell solver. Eulerian solvers represent the
geometry, which in this case is the block of gas products, as a grid of
nodes using a rectangular indexing method. The material flows
through the mesh made by these nodes. Euler solvers have the
advantage of not having any grid distortions which would occur with
a Lagrangian model. This makes Euler solvers ideal for modelling
hydrodynamic actions, such as explosions. In order to save compu-
tational time, the blast is modelled in three different stages:
Stage 1: detonation process
The explosive is modelled as a cylinder with the corresponding
load diameter and height of charge. The mesh size is kept constant
at 1 1 mm for all the different charge masses. Finer meshes do
not yield better results despite higher computational time. The
detonation is initiated over a radius of 3 mm; corresponding to the
size of the detonator, located at the centre of the furthest face of
the explosive disc from the “V” shape plate. The axi-symmetric
model of the explosive surrounded by air is run until the front
(3) of shock wave reaches a distance that corresponds to 10 mm from
the ridge of the “V” shape plate. Fig. 7 shows the typical transient
response of an axi-symmetric model of the explosive detonated at
the centre, taking advantage of the fast computation time. In this
case, 40 g of C4 is detonated at a stand-off distance of 34 mm.
Stage 2: loading process
Once the detonation process has reached the 10 mm mark from
the ridge of the “V” shape plate, the axi-symmetric model is
converted into a 3-D model with a 360
revolution and applied
to the ‘V’ shape plate. The explosive is allowed to further expand
and interact with the plate to deform within a block of air which
has a base of 100 mm  100 mm. Air is not applied over the
whole plate model because the localised blast load causes very
localised deformation, assuming that gas pressure interaction
with the lower clamping section of the plates is not significant
and can be excluded from the model. A typical gas block used is
Table 4
Material properties of the “V” shape plate.
A B n C (s-1) m Tmelt 3_ 0 Specific Taylor-
(MPa) (MPa) (K) (s-1) heat Quinney
(J/kg K) coefficient
818 1423 0.987 0.014 1 1793 1 477 0.9
Method Experiments Ansys/AutoDYN library [30]
obtained
102 S. Chung Kim Yuen et al. / International Journal of Impact Engineering 46 (2012) 97e109
Fig. 7. Axi-symmetric detonation model showing pressure contours for 40 g C4 at a stand-off distance of 34 mm (block outline shows original PE4 location prior to detonation).
shown in Fig. 8 with flow out boundary conditions set at the
outer boundaries.
Stage 3: unloading process
The gas pressures subside substantially by 0.12 ms, as shown in
Fig. 9 for two discrete points (at the centre and the boundary of
the air block). The mid-point velocity of the plate decays to
10e20% of its peak value and the gases are set to deactivate at
0.12 ms. The “V” shape plate is thereafter allowed to continue
deforming due to inertia.
4.4. Properties of air
The air and post-burning C4 gas product media are assumed to
behave as an ideal gas. Hence the default equation of state, Eqs.
(4)e(6) [30], is specified. The air is modelled as being at an ambient
Fig. 8. Assembled Ansys/AutoDYN model showing flow out boundaries and imported
pressure contours.
temperature of 15
C. The air is assigned an internal energy of
2.068  105 kJ kg1.
P ¼ rðg  1ÞE0a (4)
Cp
g¼ (5)
Cv
E0a ¼ Cv T (6)
where r is the density of the gas, Cp and Cv are the specific heat at
constant pressure and volume respectively, whilst T is the gas
temperature. The air model, as defined from Ansys/AutoDYN
material library, is shown in Table 5.
4.5. Properties of the explosives
The explosive behaviour is modelled using the Jones-
WilkinseLee equation of state, Eq. (7), for a C4/PE4 explosive
material as defined in the Ansys/AutoDYN material library [30].
Ansys/AutoDYN automatically reverts to using the ideal-gas equa-
tion of state to handle the high pressure and temperature gases left
Fig. 9. Plot of pressureetime history at two discrete points (centre and boundary of
the air block) 120
“V” shape plate subjected to 29 g PE4 at 34 mm stand-off distance.
 S. Chung Kim Yuen et al. / International Journal of Impact Engineering 46 (2012) 97e109 103

Table 5 Table 7
Ansys/AutoDYN material properties for air [30]. Predicted mid-point deflection.

r (kg/m3) T (K) Cp (kJ/kg K) Cv (kJ/kg K) Varied charge mass 120
“V” angle , stand-off distance: 34 mm
1.225 288.2 1.005 0.718 Charge mass (g) Mid-point deflection (mm)

Experimental Numerical

after the explosion as soon as the C4/PE4 has completely detonated 19 17.7 17.5
29 31.0 25.3
leaving only the gas products (and surrounding air).
35 42.1 32.1
    40 51.1 35.5
urp R1 ðre =rp Þ urp R2 ðre =rp Þ
P ¼ A 1 e þB 1 e þ urE0e (7) 45 39.0 38.5
R1 re R2 re 50 40.2 40.0

Varied Stand-off distance 120
“V” Angle, Charge mass: 29 g

where P is the pressure, re and rp are the density of the explosive
and explosive products respectively, A, B, R1, R2 and u are material Stand-off distance (mm) Mid-point deflection (mm)
constants that are empirically derived and E0a is specific internal Experimental Numerical
energy of the explosive. The material constants used for the C4/PE4 26 38.3 35.5
are shown in Table 6. 34 31.0 25.3
42 24.8 15.7
50 14.3 10.5
5. Numerical simulation results
Varied V angle charge mass: 19 g, stand-off distance: 34 mm
To validate the model, predictions of large inelastic deforma- Included “V” angle Mid-point deflection (mm)
tions are compared with experiments. The mid-point deflection of Experimental Numerical
the “V” shape plate is recorded by means of gauge points applied in
60
0.3 1.1
the Ansys/AutoDYN model. Table 7 summarises the predicted mid- 90
3.6 3.2
point deflection for the various parameters investigated. The 120
17.7 17.5
experimental data for the different loading conditions, varying 150
Torn 35.4
180
38.7 33.7
charge mass and stand-off distance, and included angle of the plate
for mid-point deflection are plotted against the predicted results in
Fig. 10. Generally, encouraging correlation is obtained for the mid-
laser scanned profiles of the experiments, shown in Figs. 12 and 13.
point deflection. There are, however, a few instances whereby the
Generally, the predictions show good correlation with the experi-
numerical model under predicts the mid-point deflection. The
ments. There are, however, a few cases where the numerical
numerical results indicate a general trend of increasing permanent
simulations under-predicts the experiments. Crosscut profiles from
mid-point deflection with
the experiments and numerical simulations are compared in Fig. 14.
It should be noted that because of assumed symmetry in the model
 increasing mass of explosive for constant stand-off distance
and the complex nature of explosive loading conditions, any
(illustrated in Fig. 11)
asymmetric deformation observed in the experiments cannot be
 decreasing stand-off distance for constant mass of explosive
predicted by the numerical model, as shown in Fig. 14.
(illustrated in Fig. 17).

6. Discussion
In computational modelling there is a trade-off between the
mesh size and the hardware capabilities. The number of elements
6.1. Effect of stand-off distance
used has a significant effect on the final predictions. The solution
approaches the exact solution of the governing equations as the
The “V” shape plates with a 120
included angle are tested at
number of elements approaches infinity in the finite element
varying stand-off distance, ranging from 18 to 50 mm, and constant
formulation. However, as the number of elements increases so does
charge mass (29 g). More pronounced deformation is observed at
the computational expense. In the current model emphasis is laid
the smaller stand-off distance, with tearing occurring at a stand-off
on the response of the plate in the central area where most
distance of 18 mm, as shown in Fig. 15. While mid-point deflection
damages occur. Consequently the global impulse transferred from
the numerical simulation was not compared with the impulses
measured from the ballistic pendulum. The transient responses
obtained from the numerical simulations, shown in Fig. 11 for the
120
“V” shape plate with varying charge mass at 34 mm stand-off
distance, show that deformation is initiated in the central area of
the plate with buckling type failure along the ridge of the “V” shape
plates. The deformation progresses with an increasing damage area
in the central area of the plate.
For better comparison, side profiles of the deformed “V” shape
plates captured from the Ansys/AutoDYN results are compared to

Table 6
Ansys/AutoDYN material properties for C4/PE4 [30].

re (kg/m3) A (GPa) B (GPa) R1 R2 u C-J C-J energy/ C-J

Vdetonation volume pressure
(m/s) (kJ/m3) (MPa)
1601 609.8 12.95 4.5 1.4 0.25 8193 9.0  106 28
Fig. 10. Graph showing predicted vs. measured mid-point deflection.
104 S. Chung Kim Yuen et al. / International Journal of Impact Engineering 46 (2012) 97e109

Fig. 11. Transient response of the 120
“V” shape plate with varying charge mass at 34 mm stand-off distance (increasing charge mass from left to right).

showed a decreasing trend with decreasing stand-off distance, as

illustrated by the crosscut profiles along the centre of the plates
shown in Fig. 16, there is no significant variation in measured
impulse imparted onto the plates within the test range (refer to
Table 3: 7e8% variation in impulse measured). Similar observation
is made for plates with 90
included angle (not shown herein). The
difference in plate deformation would be a result of the different
spatial and temporal pressure distribution not discernable by the

Fig. 12. Comparison between numerical and experimental ridge profile (side view) for Fig. 13. Comparison between numerical and experimental ridge profile (side view) for
120
V-shape plate (varied mass of PE4; 34 mm stand-off distance) (difference high- 120
V-shape plate (varied stand-off distance; 29 g of PE4) (difference highlighted in
lighted in red). (For interpretation of the references to colour in this figure legend, the red). (For interpretation of the references to colour in this figure legend, the reader is
reader is referred to the web version of this article.) referred to the web version of this article.)
 S. Chung Kim Yuen et al. / International Journal of Impact Engineering 46 (2012) 97e109
Fig. 14. Photograph and prediction of crosscut profiles of 120
“V” shape plates subjected to different masses of PE4 (increasing from top to bottom: 19 g, 29 g, 35 g, 40 g) at 34 mm
stand-off distance highlighting asymmetric deformation observed in the experiments.
Fig. 15. Photograph of the crosscut profiles of 120
“V” plates subjected to a charge
mass of 29 g at varying stand-off distances (from top to bottom: 50 mm, 42 mm,
34 mm, 26 mm, 18 mm). Note the tearing that occurs at 18 mm stand-off distance.
global impulse measured by the ballistic pendulum. The transient
response of deformed 120
“V” shape plates obtained from the
numerical simulations for plates subjected to a constant charge
mass (29 g) at varying stand-off distance, ranging from 26 to
50 mm, is shown in Fig. 17.
Fig. 16. Crosscut deformation profiles of 120
“V” plates subjected to 29 g of explosive at varying stand-off distance.
105
6.2. Effect of included angle
In an attempt to investigate the effect of the included angle,
similar loading conditions (same mass of PE4 at the same stand-off
distance) are applied to “V” shape plates of different included angle.
Figs. 18 and 19 show the variation in damage for the different “V”
shape plates subjected to 19 g of PE4 at 34 mm stand-off distance
(the 60
“V” is not shown because the 60
“V” plate was too high to
be sectioned using a bandsaw). The performance of the different
included angle is evaluated against the flat plate (included angle of
180
), used as a reference case, in terms of impulse and mid-point
deflection.
The same loading conditions are observed to result in different
impulses for the different ‘V’ shape plates. Table 8 shows the
percentage reduction in impulses and mid-point deflections for the
different included angles compared to the flat plate. The results
listed in Table 8 are plotted in the graph shown in Fig. 20. The
impulse imparted onto the plate appears to be linearly proportional
to the “V” angle, smaller impulse is measured for smaller included
angles. It is assumed that the difference in impulse is a result of
deflection in force imparted by the blast.
The mid-point deflection, on the other hand, does not show any
linear trend with the included angles. The deformation observed in
the 150
“V” shape plates is more pronounced than the deformation
observed in the flat plates despite the fact that a lower measured
impulse is imparted onto the 150
“V” shape plates for the same
blast load. The smallest included angle, namely the 60
“V” shape
plate, deflects the most force (40% less impulse than the flat plate)
with the least mid-point deflection (99% difference compared to
the flat plate). This observation suggests that a smaller included
106 S. Chung Kim Yuen et al. / International Journal of Impact Engineering 46 (2012) 97e109

Fig. 17. Transient response of the 120
“V” shape plate subjected to 29 g of PE4 at varying stand-off distance (increasing stand-off distance from left to right).

angle plate deflects more blast energy. The choice of a “V” angle for
a vehicle hull would ideally be the smallest included angle possible.
It should be noted that smaller included angle would deflect more
blast energy resulting from a detonation at the centre but to the
detriment of an increased possibility of toppling should the charge
be offset because of the increased height.
The transient displacement contour plots of the “V” shape plate
with different included angles subjected to a charge mass of 19 g of
PE4 at a stand-off distance of 34 mm are shown in Fig. 21. The
results show that for plates with included angles greater than 90

the centre of the plate and the ridge initially moves. In cases where
the included angles are 60
and 90
localised deformation is first
observed on either side of the ridge of the “V” shape plates
showing a pinch effect (highlighted for the 90
“V” shape plate in
Fig. 21; the pinch effect can be better observed in the deformed
specimens and numerical predictions shown in Fig. 22). The ridge
hardly displaces.

Fig. 18. Photograph showing the variation in damage for the different “V” shape plates
subjected to 19 g of PE4 at 34 mm stand-off distance (from top to bottom): 90
, 120
,
150
, 180
(tearing highlighted e the 60
plate is not shown because it could not be Fig. 19. Crosscut profiles traces of different included “V” shape plates subjected to 19 g
sectioned). of PE4 at 34 mm stand-off distance (from top to bottom): 90
, 120
, 150
, 180
.
 S. Chung Kim Yuen et al. / International Journal of Impact Engineering 46 (2012) 97e109 107

Table 8 For a charge mass of 29 g at a stand-off distance of 34 mm, the

Performance of the different included angle relative to the flat plate in terms of numerical simulation is carried out for the various included angles
impulse and mid-point deflection.
and compared with experiments in Fig. 22. In the case of the 150

“V” included Measured % Impulse Mid-point % Mid-point included angle, the numerical model predicts a mid-point deflec-
angle impulse (Ns) difference deflection (mm) deflection tion of 35.4 mm but in the actual experiment the plate is torn, as
difference
indicated in Table 7 and shown in Fig. 22. It should be noted that no
60
17.4 42.2 0.31 99.2
failure parameters to simulate tearing was incorporated in the
90
20.7 31.3 3.64 90.6
120
23.1 23.3 17.74 54.2 numerical models.
150
26.49 12.0 Torn Worse Figs. 23 and 24 summarise the results of the experiments carried
180
30.11 0.0 38.72 0.0 out at a stand-off distance of 34 mm. Fig. 23 shows the relationship
between impulses and the mass of explosive for the different “V”
shape plates. A general linear trend of increasing mass of explosive
increases the impulse imparted to the plate is observed. For the
same mass of explosive, higher impulse values are measured for
larger included angles. The relationship between the measured
mid-point deflection of the “V” shape plate of different included
angles and the measured impulse imparted onto the “V” shape
plate is plotted in Fig. 24. A general trend of increasing mid-point
deflection is observed for increasing mass of explosive. It is also
observed that the flat plates (180
“V” angle) exhibit smaller
deflections than the 150
“V” shape plate, despite a higher
measured impulse, for the range of tests carried out. This would
suggest that the flat plates (180
“V” angle) perform better than the
150
“V” shape plates in terms of protection level. This may be
attributed to the fact that the 150
“V” shape plates can buckle
while the flat plates (180
“V” angle) build up membrane stresses.
While similar impulse values are measured for the 90
and 120
“V”
Fig. 20. Graph of mid-point deflection and impulse vs. included angle for a blast load shape plates (average 10% difference) the mid-point deflection
of 19 g PE4 at 34 mm stand-off distance. measured are significantly different (average 76% difference) for

Fig. 21. Transient response of “V” shape plate with different included angles showing absolute displacement (mass of PE4: 19 g; stand-off distance: 34 mm).
108 S. Chung Kim Yuen et al. / International Journal of Impact Engineering 46 (2012) 97e109
Fig. 22. Comparison between numerical predictions and experiments for different
included angle V-shape plates (mass of PE4: 19 g; stand-off distance: 34 mm).
similar blast loads. Very little deflection is measured for the 60
“V”
shape plates. The structural behaviour could be a result of either
a stiffened geometry effect, a plate with a smaller included angle
would have a higher structural stiffness compared to a plate with
a larger included angle, or blast deflection effect, a plate with
a smaller included angle would deflect more blast pressures
compared to a plate with a larger included angle, or a combination
Fig. 23. Graph of impulse vs. mass of PE4 for different “V” included angles at stand-off
distance of 34 mm.
Fig. 24. Graph of mid-point deflection vs. impulse for different “V” included angles at
stand-off distance of 34 mm.
of both effects. Nevertheless, from a design and application point of
view, it would be ideal to compare the findings of this investigation
to an in-service vehicle with a “V” shape hull, the Casspir for
instance. However, no detailed data is available in the open litera-
ture regarding inclusive the angle of the “V” shape hull or the
location of centre of gravity of the vehicle. Typically, smaller
inclusive angled plates would result in a higher centre of gravity
compared to larger inclusive angle.
7. Conclusions
This paper presents the experimental results and numerical
simulation of the response of “V” shape plates to the detonation of
a disc of explosive placed in the central position of the plate, rep-
resenting the loading condition of an unburied landmine that
would detonate in the central position underneath a vehicle hull.
The results indicate a general trend of increasing permanent mid-
point deflection with increasing mass of explosive for constant
stand-off distance and with decreasing stand-off distance for
constant mass of explosive, for the range of tests carried out.
Smaller included angle plates appear to deflect more gas pressure
resulting in less mid-point deflection of the plate. Lower impulses
imparted onto the plate are also measured from a ballistic
pendulum for smaller included angles for the same loading
condition. From a design and application point of view, while
smaller inclusive angled plates deflect more blast energy the latter
may result into a higher centre of gravity for a vehicle, hence
reducing the stability of the vehicle. The predictions showed
satisfactory correlation with the experiments and provide an
insight into the response of “V” shape plates to localised blast
loading.
Acknowledgment
The financial assistance of South Africa’s National Research
Foundation (NRF) towards this research is hereby acknowledged.
Opinions expressed and conclusions arrived at, are those of the
author and are not necessarily to be attributed to the NRF. The
funding provided by Armscor (SA) is also gratefully acknowledged.
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