Evaluation of the SPH method for the modelling of spall in anisotropic alloys

Spall caused by hypervelocity impacts at the lower range of velocities could result in significant damage to spacecraft. A number of polycrystalline alloys, used in spacecraft manufacturing, exhibit a pronounced anisotropy in their mechanical properties. The aluminium alloy AA 7010, whose orthotropy is a consequence of the meso-scale phase distribution or grain morphology, has been chosen for this investigation. The material failure observed in plate impact was simulated using an explicit finite element code and a smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) code. A number of spall models where used, and the Hugoniot Elastic Limit (HEL) and spall strength have been studied as a function of orientation, and compared to experimental results.