Finite Element Analysis of Underbody Armor

This capstone project encompasses the design of a next generation combat vehicle that can withstand an underbody blast. In this capstone the cadets have designed and tested varying simple truss geometry configurations to analyze effectiveness when compared to the current industry standard. Models were developed for both experimental and analytical analysis. The experimental analysis utilizes additive manufacturing and the Army Research Lab (ARL) guidelines for blast simulation. To provide a source of comparison and expectation, a finite element model was developed in True Grid. Using the DoD High Performance Computing (HPC) facility, this model was used for a detailed finite-element blast test analysis. The available tools also provide the capability to adjust a variety of test parameters and allows the fine-tuning of experimental procedures based on the expected results.