Parametric studies of penetration events : a design and analysis of experiments approach.

A numerical screening study of the interaction between a penetrator and a geological target with a preformed hole has been carried out to identify the main parameters affecting the penetration event. The planning of the numerical experiment was based on the orthogonal array OA(18,7,3,2), which allows 18 simulation runs with 7 parameters at 3 levels each. The strength of 2 of the array allows also for two-factor interaction studies. The seven parameters chosen for this study are: penetrator offset, hole diameter, hole taper, vertical and horizontal velocity of the penetrator, angle of attack of the penetrator and target material. The analysis of the simulation results has been based on main effects plots and analysis of variance (ANOVA), and it has been performed using three metrics: the maximum values of the penetration depth, penetrator deceleration and plastic strain in the penetrator case. This screening study shows that target material has a major influence on penetration depth and penetrator deceleration, while penetrator offset has the strongest effect on the maximum plastic strain