Structures under projectile impact

The RV division is equipped with large testing facilities to characterize the behaviour of structures under impact loading and to validate the models used in the numerical simulations describing this type of loading. The gas launchers of the ExperDYN platform allow impact tests to be carried out
at speeds from a few m/s up to around 1000 m/s. The damage and deformation processes are observed by means of ultra-high-speed camera (up to 5 Mfps) and analysed thanks to X-ray CT micro-tomography. In parallel, the penetration and fracturing processes are numerically simulated by discrete-element method (DEM) or using erosion criteria in finite-element method (FEM).