Modelling of projectile penetration into lightweight expanded clay aggregate

This work presents a phenomenological model for estimating projectile penetration into granular lightweight expanded clay aggregate often known as Lightweight expanded clay aggregate (LECA). Laboratory scale penetration experiments in the low-velocity regime performed using LECA are presented. A penetration model based on the mass and momentum balances is proposed and the model parameters are derived from the physical behaviour of the penetrated material. It was found that the penetration behaviour predicted by the model agrees reasonably well with the experimental results for three cases studied in detail in terms of projectile deceleration during the penetration and the final penetration depth as well as for the other cases for which only measured penetration depths were available. Although the proposed model results correspond well with the experiments, further validation and more detailed modelling of the dynamic effects of the assumed deformation mechanisms of the penetrated material are needed.