Micro-RVE modeling of mechanistic response in porous intermetallics subject to weak and moderate impact loading

•Constitutive model to capture impact assisted consolidation of porous materials.•Model can incorporate microstructural information into large scale FEA.•Model can predict temperature increase in porous material due to impact.•Model validated against mechanistic response of porous Ni/Al IRCs.

In this article we propose macroscopic (continuum) simulation schemes to predict response of porous heterogeneous material systems subjected to weak and moderate impact velocities. The proposed simulation model includes (1) an equation of state for porous solids that describes the evolution of porosity in the material as a function of shock pressure and, (2) a macroscopic rate dependent plasticity model for the porous composite that accounts for the deviatoric strength of the material at weak to moderate shock strengths. In addition, the numerical scheme employs cold-mixture theory to predict shock response of porous intermetallics. The material model is validated using gas-gun impact experiments on Ni/Al Intermolecular Reactive Composite (IRC) at 70% TMD. The proposed model is also used to understand the effect of microstructure on the material response predictions.