The stress problems in the model were a symptom that the materials that were used for the sections were not appropriate. The Material that was used for the projectile was then simplified to an elastic material with a high E.

The projectile still has to be changed to a sphere and further methods will have to be implemented to increase the mesh density without exceeding the academic license node limit. By looking at this simulation it is visible that the elastic deformation waves that propagate towards the edges are nowhere near the ends of the plate as the projectile exits. This suggests that the size of the target can be reduced, which will allow us to refine the mesh further without exceeding the limit.

The main purpose of this model is to allow the team to become familiar with the Abaqus software and the principles of finite element modelling. The model can also be validated using an analytical model.

• The model was based on a generic scenario, the parameters of which were set by the project supervisor.

             A square fixed end plate with a side 500mm

             9mm projectile

             400m/s velocity

             4 way symmetry

• Although symmetry was exploited the academic license limit of 20 000 nodes still does not allow a proper mesh convergence test  to be carried out. Implementing a non-homogeneous mesh would help in this respect and therefore this would be the next step in the project.
• Another step would be to model the projectile as a rigid sphere. This has not yet been done in this model as we encountered problems with introducing a discretely rigid element to the assembly. There were also complications with meshing a quarter of a sphere which will addressed in the near future.
  

The main problem that we encountered with this model was that the stresses developing in the projectile were much bigger than the one in the plate, which did not allow for an adequate visual representation using the given color scheme.