On the impact of a rigid–plastic missile into rigid or elastic target

Here we carry out a systematic parametric study of a uniform cylindrical missile impacting rigid or elastic structures. We give an analytical result for the impact force in case of rigid target. A new parameter, the damage potential is introduced and it is shown that this single dimensionless combination of the parameters describes the course of the impact in this simplest case. For elastic target structures, we also show numerically that the course of the reaction force, the maximum target displacement and the duration of the impact depend primarily on the same dimensionless parameter with a secondary effect of the missile to target mass ratio and the relative stiffness of the target. The rigid target assumption is not always conservative with regard to the reaction force due to target vibration. We find a resonant effect in the maximum target displacement as the function of the missile to target mass ratio. The motivation of our work is rooted in the investigation of aircraft fuselage impact into robust structures like the containment of a nuclear power plant.