Experimental and numerical studies of failure of a composite casing for a high-energy explosive

Carbon fiber composite cylinders were fabricated using the filament winding technique, and the cylinders were loaded internally with a high-energy explosive material. As the high-energy explosive material detonated, the transient deformation and failure of the composite cylinder were investigated both experimentally and numerically. For the experimental study, a high-speed video camera running at 5 million frames per second was used to capture the deformation and failure of the composite cylinder. A Photonic Doppler Velocimetry (PDV) system was also used to measure the radial velocity of the outer wall of the cylinder while the internal detonation progressed. Separately, Split Hopkinson Pressure Bar (SHPB) tests were conducted to check the strain-rate effect on the failure strength of the carbon fiber material. Finally, a multiscale approach was used to model the dynamic deformation and failure of the composite cylinder. The multiscale technique considers the failure of composites in terms of the constituent materials like fiber and matrix materials. The numerically predicted deformation and failure agreed well with the experimentally observed and measured results.