A computational analysis of the utility of chemical reactions within protective structures in mitigating shockwave-impact effects

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to introduce and analyze a new blast-wave impact-mitigation concept using advanced computational methods and tools. The concept involves the use of a protective structure consisting of bimolecular reactants displaying a number of critical characteristics, including: a high level of thermodynamic stability under ambient conditions (to ensure a long shelf-life of the protective structure); the capability to undergo fast/large-yield chemical reactions under blast-impact induced shock-loading conditions; large negative activation and reaction volumes to provide effective attenuation of the pressure-dominated shockwave stress field through the volumetric-energy storing effects; and a large activation energy for efficient energy dissipation. The case of a particular bimolecular chemical reaction involving polyvinyl pyridine and cyclohexyl chloride as reactants and polyvinyl pyridinium ionic salt as the reaction product is analyzed.

Design/methodology/approach

Direct simulations of single planar shockwave propagations through the reactive mixture are carried out, and the structure of the shock front examined, as a function of the occurrence of the chemical reaction. To properly capture the shockwave-induced initiation of the chemical reactions during an impact event, all the calculations carried out in the present work involved the use of all-atom molecular-level equilibrium and non-equilibrium reactive molecular-dynamics simulations. In other words, atomic bonding is not pre-assigned, but is rather determined dynamically and adaptively using the concepts of the bond order and atomic valence.

Findings

The results obtained clearly reveal that when the chemical reactions are allowed to take place at the shock front and in the shockwave, the resulting shock front undergoes a considerable level of dispersion. Consequently, the (conserved) linear momentum is transferred (during the interaction of the protective-structure borne shockwaves with the protected structure) to the protected structure over a longer time period, while the peak loading experienced by the protected structure is substantially reduced.

Originality/value

To the authors’ knowledge, the present work is the first attempt to simulate shock-induced chemical reactions at the molecular level, for purposes of blast-mitigation.

Citation

Grujicic, M., Snipes, J. and Ramaswami, S. (2016), "A computational analysis of the utility of chemical reactions within protective structures in mitigating shockwave-impact effects", Multidiscipline Modeling in Materials and Structures, Vol. 12 No. 3, pp. 438-472. https://doi.org/10.1108/MMMS-04-2015-0019