Spatial mass distribution of fragments striking a protective structure

Fragmentation of cased charges is of interest in the design of protective structures. To assess the global response of a protective structure due to the fragments impact, their spatial mass distribution should be evaluated. Experimental results indicate that this distribution is not uniform, as commonly assumed. In this paper, a simplified model is proposed to depict the non-uniform spatial distribution over a protective wall. This distribution is characterized by an ‘intense strip’, which is stricken by relatively large fragment masses. Numerical simulations are presented to evaluate the model parameters for cases of various standoff distances and impact angles (which result from the angle between the charge longitudinal axis and the ground). The model parameters obtained in this method also agree very well with reported experimental findings. The simplified fragments mass distribution is shown to be more realistic than the commonly used, uniform one.