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3 Sciences for Lethality and Protection
Pages 60-87

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From page 60...
... ARL's research into lethality and protection sciences during 2015 and 2016 ranges from basic research that improves our fundamental understanding of the scientific phenomena and technology generation that supports battlefield injury mechanisms in human response to threats and human protective equipment; disruptive energetics; directed energy programs; flight, control, and guidance of munitions; and ballistics, blast, and target interaction programs that address weapon-target interactions and armor and adaptive protection developments to benefit the warfighter. ARL's breath of lethality and protection sciences mission scope work is performed within the Weapons and Materials Research Directorate ­ (WMRD)
From page 61...
... All models need experimental validation, and all experimental programs would benefit from increased use of statistical data evaluation and statistical experimental design. Computational mechanics work on battlefield injury mechanisms and human response to threats and on protective equipment, including the mechanics of fibers and fiber composites, are being combined with experimental efforts to characterize, validate, and verify the computational results.
From page 62...
... The project on the ballistic response of knitted materials is a small, well-executed modeling effort that is very relevant and important to ARL needs. While the work is not particularly novel, the results are unique and will be useful for the future design of protective equipment.
From page 63...
... The program in battlefield mechanisms, human response, and human protective equipment is conducted by a strong cadre of scientists, and a credible program is under way. Summary of Accomplishments Battlefield injuries are an important area of research for ARL, because a better understanding of the mechanisms of injury is vital to improving protective measures.
From page 64...
... This strategic review needs to include consideration of future capabilities that the Army will need that DE might fill, and what DE capabilities might be fielded by our adversaries for which the Army will need countermeasures. A focused ARL DE program would benefit from a systems-level study addressing future Army missions in which DE could play a role and in which DE effectiveness and alternatives to DE are traded off.
From page 65...
... Adaptive Techniques for Advanced Radar Tracking and Optimization The scientific quality of the research is basically sound in the context of unclassified university research, but it is not up to the standard of leading federal, university, and industrial laboratories working in this area. There appeared to be little or no awareness of existing, similar work in advanced radar development other than some unclassified university research.
From page 66...
... Adaptive and Scalable High-Power, Phase-Locked Fiber Laser Arrays This research program is devoted to developing high-power (tens of kilowatts) fiber lasers by coherently combining lower power systems.
From page 67...
... This experimental work on adaptive and scalable high-power phase-locked fiber laser arrays was outstanding; the experimenters clearly understood the issue and why it was being pursued, and they
From page 68...
... The presentation on penetration, armor, and adaptive protection provided an impressive overview of ongoing research aimed at meeting shorter- and longer-term issues. The shift of focus from the goal of addressing short-term Army needs to the goal of carrying out research that will maintain world leadership in this area for future Army needs was evident.
From page 69...
... There were also examples of modeling being used to provide physical insight into experimentally observed phenomena, and there were examples of concepts and designs being examined that could not be tested experimentally with current capabilities. Numerical simulation represents a key capability for ARL in the armor and adaptive protection area.
From page 70...
... Use of the codes in this way will likely increase in the future, although coupling of codes is a challenging endeavor that will make the development of general frameworks for the coupling of codes increasingly useful. ARL researchers indicated that their overall framework for multiscale modeling is also intended for armor and adaptive protection problems.
From page 71...
... The science of energetics in the context of armor and adaptive protection may be significantly different from that science in the context of warheads, so the ARL group working on armor and adaptive protection may benefit from a workshop on energetic materials for reactive armor. They might also encourage the Army Research Office to establish a Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative in this area.
From page 72...
... It is critical that ARL establish a focus in this area as soon as possible. DISRUPTIVE ENERGETICS AND PROPULSION TECHNOLOGIES The disruptive energetics and propulsion technologies reviewed in 2016 highlighted research and technology advances in four areas: synthesis activities, propellant simulation, extended solids, and multiscale computational modeling.
From page 73...
... There is good interaction with experiment and modeling in the embedded wire propellant project. Extended Solids This is an ambitious and high-stakes project.
From page 74...
... Challenges and Opportunities In the development of improved propellant energetic materials, more interaction with computational modeling efforts is needed, and it appears that that is already starting. Also, this group has plans for several new molecules and seems to have a good plan to achieve the results.
From page 75...
... Development of New Energetic Materials The efforts at synthesis of energetics are cutting-edge work and are showing results in the newly developed promising chemicals. This is a high-risk/high-payoff effort, so ARL could expect that most candidate materials may not, ultimately, transition to Army applications and systems.
From page 76...
... Model­ ing is being used to develop appropriate geometric web designs to tailor the burn rate to achieve the ideal constant breach pressure response. Additionally, the modeling includes thermal effects (­coefficient of thermal expansion)
From page 77...
... This is an exciting direction of research, and promising opportunity, supported by ARL's thrust in this area. Challenges and Opportunities Some promising work is ongoing to develop approaches for testing and screening candidate energetic materials.
From page 78...
... Their comments indicated that Army information technology security does not recognize the mission of ARL and the importance to procure software in a timely manner; that is, ARL researchers want their software needs to have a higher priority. This restriction requires attention and needs to be addressed by ARL management.
From page 79...
... Scientists and engineers focusing mainly in the area of the sciences for lethality and protection are teaming up with other campaigns with specialties in the area of materials research to combine new materials technologies with scalable dynamic experimental processes in order to determine material susceptibility to high-g environments. The findings will determine if these novel processes and mate­ rials can be implemented in guidance systems and munitions in order to reach desired lethal effects at standoff ranges in visually constrained environments.
From page 80...
... Collaborations could help to leverage this work to obtain additional validation data and provide a conduit to transfer knowledge gained to the design and development community through improvements to the engineering-level codes. Validation of numerical simulations (RANS)
From page 81...
... is desired lethal effects at standoff ranges in constrained environments. Inside this initiative lies the goal of being able to engage a moving target with a gunlaunched projectile.
From page 82...
... This includes insights into vector thrust aerodynamics, image correlation, and navigation fixes without GPS, in addition to the potential advances in energetic materials. The work, taken together, appears to define a new generation of precision guided munitions.
From page 83...
... Specific examples are discussed below. Flight Control This work was well represented by a poster on the topic of vortex-fin interaction predictions of elementary configurations with experimental validation.
From page 84...
... To have a robust research group in this area, there needs to be a critical number of experimenters, analysts, and numerical simulation subject-matter experts. The ARL research community appears to be aligned in their vision of developing and improving the precision of guided munitions.
From page 85...
... OVERALL QUALITY OF THE WORK ARL's research on lethality and protection ranges from basic research that improves basic understanding of scientific phenomena to the generation of technology that supports the following: (1) battlefield injury mechanisms, human response to threats, and human protective equipment; (2)
From page 86...
... As it is well known that energy release rate is dependent on surface area of the burning propellant, the goal to fabricate an optimal shape propellant using 3D additive manufacturing techniques needs to be pursued. ARL's modeling in this regard to develop appropriate geometric web designs to tailor the burn rate to achieve the ideal constant breach pressure
From page 87...
... ARL's research team has made significant progress toward developing the technical underpinnings of advanced guided munitions in the areas of aerodynamics, guidance and control, and terminal homing. This includes insights into vector thrust aerodynamics, image correlation, navigation fixes without GPS, in addition to the potential advances in the energetic materials.


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