Multimaterial arbitrary-lagrangian-eulerian formulation for blast-induced fluid-structure interaction in fiber-metal laminates

Modelling the dynamic interaction of blast loading with primary aircraft structures is of great interest to both the military and civil sector as the threat of sabotage and terrorism increases. This paper examines and models the dynamic behavior of a fiber-metal laminate known as glass-fiber reinforced laminate (Glare) to dynamic loading based on experimental data using the arbitrary-Lagrangian-Eulerian multimaterial formulation in the explicit finite-element solver LS-DYNA. To validate the predictive methodology as well as to prove its ability to simulate complicated blast tests, two different scenarios were examined based on experimental data. The first examined the blast response of Glare flat panels subjected to an open-air blast, and the second examined the blast propagation in a pressurized cylindrical barrel. The predicted numerical results agree very well with those of experiments. This computational approach is able to accurately predict the relevant aspects of the blast-structure interaction problem, including the blast wave propagation in the medium for pressurized loading cases and the response of the structure to blast loading. Copyright © 2012 by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Inc. All rights reserved.