A constitutive equation for ceramic materials used in lightweight armors

A constitutive model to simulate the behavior of ceramic materials under impact loading is proposed in order to achieve a better representation of the damage process due to the material fragmentation. To integrate the proposed constitutive equations, a semi-implicit algorithm (implicit for the stresses and explicit for the damage variable) has been developed, leading to the generalized expressions of the classical return mapping algorithm. The model was implemented in a commercial finite element code and its performance was demonstrated by comparing its predictions with experimental results obtained by other authors.

► A constitutive model to simulate the behavior of ceramic materials under impact.
► Yield stress depends on pressure and damage.
► Inelastic flow governed by a non-associated law.
► Developed the corresponding return-mapping algorithm.
► Parameters of the model may be easily determined.