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Soil–projectile interaction during penetration of a transparent clay simulant

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Abstract

Visualization of soil structure interaction during projectile penetration of clay is made possible by use of a surrogate composed of magnesium lithium phyllosilicate combined with high-speed photography and digital image correlation. A free-falling penetrator striking at 5.5 m/s simulated a projectile. Penetration resistance was constant within the resolution of the experiment; it was mainly due to the bearing resistance of the soil in contact with the nose, rather than skin friction. Bearing resistance in dynamic penetration for a hemispherical-nose rod was about 20% higher than quasi-static tests using a sphere. Bearing resistance was also about 20% higher for a hemispherical nose compared to a conical nose. Cavitation behind the nose is dependent on its shape with soils rebounding toward the projectile for conical noses but not hemispherical ones.

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Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully acknowledge the support of the Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program (SERDP) Project No: MR19-1277. An NAC HX5 high-speed camera was used. MLPS employed in this study is manufactured by BYK Additives & Instruments, Inc. and sold under the commercial name Laponite RD®.

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  1. New York University, New York, USA

    Abdelaziz Ads, Magued Iskander & Stephan Bless

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  1. Abdelaziz Ads
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  2. Magued Iskander
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Correspondence to Magued Iskander.

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Ads, A., Iskander, M. & Bless, S. Soil–projectile interaction during penetration of a transparent clay simulant. Acta Geotech. 15, 815–826 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11440-020-00921-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11440-020-00921-z

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