Damage response of high elastic polyurea coated liquid-filled tank subjected to close-in blast induced by charge with prefabricated fragments

The fuel tank related to the safety and normal operation of vehicle equipment has become a vulnerable component under the attack from conventional ammunition and terrorist explosion. It is an important subject to improve the protection ability of fuel tank against strong impact loads. In order to explore the feasibility of polyurea coating on the protection of thin-walled liquid-filled tank under the combined action of fragments and blast shock waves, a series of experiments concerning prefabricated fragment charge impacting on polyurea coated fuel tank (PCFT) under close-in blast were conducted. The results showed that polyurea can not only reduce the perforation rate and damage area on PCFT, but the excellent self-healing characteristics can also inhibit the leakage of inner liquid. The micro morphology indicated that the self-healing of polyurea originated from the intricate overlap of tensile deformed filaments. Meanwhile, numerical simulation was carried out to reproduce the experimental results and expand the working conditions (blast scaled distance varies from 0.096 to 0.385m/kg1/3, and polyurea thickness from 0 to 8mm). The interaction mechanism of fragments and shock waves was revealed, and the protection enhancement mechanism of polyurea was clarified together with fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. According to the summarized four types of damage modes on PCFT, the retrieval map of damage modes influenced by polyurea thickness and blast scaled distance was finally established. The research provides support for the application of polyurea on improving the impact resistance of liquid storage container.

Automated summary

This study investigates the feasibility of using polyurea coating to protect thin-walled liquid storage tanks against combined impact from fragments and blast shock waves. Experimental results show that polyurea can reduce perforation rates and damage areas on the tanks, while also exhibiting excellent self-healing properties to prevent liquid leakage.