Continuum modeling of projectile impact and penetration in dry granular media

Modeling of impact into granular substrates is a topic of growing interest over the last decade. We present a fully continuum approach for this problem, which is shown to capture an array of experimentally observed behavior with regard to the intruder penetration dynamics as well as the flow and stress response of the granular media. The intruder is modeled as a stiff elastic body and the dry granular bulk is modeled using a 'trans-phase' constitutive relation. This relation has an elasto-viscoplastic response with pressure- and rate-sensitive yield behavior given by the μ(I) inertial rheology when the granular free volume is below a critical value. Above this critical value, the material is deemed to separate and is treated as a disconnected, stress-free medium. The Material Point Method is used to implement the impact problem numerically. Validations are conducted against a wide set of experimental data with a common granular material, which allows use of a single model calibration to test the agreement. In particular, continuum simulations of projectile impact with different shaped intruders and different impact energies show good agreement with experiments regarding of time-of-flight, penetration depth, and Poncelet drag force coefficients. Simultaneously, good agreement with experiments is found regarding the response of the granular media during impact, such as the pressure wave propagation process during the initial stage of impact, the flow fields that develop under the moving intruder, and the free-surface dynamics.