High velocity projectile impact of a composite rubber/aluminium fluid-filled container

When penetrated by a high-velocity projectile, a fluid-filled container can be severely damaged and ruptured due to the intense impact loading from Hydrodynamic Ram (HRAM), which causes a primary shock wave, and then a subsequent loading phase when a cavity evolves in the fluid. In the design of fuel tanks for aircraft, and other transport vehicles, the HRAM pressure is a major concern for the reliability of the structure. In this paper, experiments of high-velocity projectiles impacting two different types of fluid-filled containers, including an aluminium wall and a composite aluminium/rubber wall, were performed to study the mitigation effect of the rubber layer on the damage of the structure and the impact loading from Hydrodynamic Ram. A high-speed camera was employed to record the formation process of the cavity, and the shock wave pressure-time histories in the fluid were also obtained by pressure transducers. By comparing and analysing the experimental results, it is shown that the rubber layer of the composite wall container was able to reduce the reflected shock pressure and the deformation of the structure.