Ballistic & Impact Dynamics : University of Dayton, Ohio

High-speed video images of an AV-8 Harrier windshield impacted by a 4-lb. gelatin bird simulant.

Testing and Evaluation of Impact-Resistant Materials and Structures

UDRI Impact Physics researchers have provided test and evaluation services for the development and certification of impact-resistant systems for government and industrial sponsors since 1965. We routinely perform research and testing in the fields of foreign object damage (FOD), light armor design and evaluation, penetration mechanics, hypervelocity impact testing and analysis, and dynamic behavior of materials.

We have one of the most diversified indoor impact research facilities in the world. Our testing laboratories have 12 gun ranges capable of propelling objects at velocities ranging from tens of feet per second to over 33,000 feet per second.

Our customers include original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) of turbine engines, space vehicles, aircraft structures, armored vehicles, and flight data recorders, as well as the Department of Homeland Security.

Capabilities

Bird Strike & Foreign Object Damage Testing

Simulated and actual bird strike test on an aircraft radome at UDRI's Impact Physics Lab. — Simulated (top) and actual (bottom) bird strike test on an aircraft radome at UDRI's Impact Physics Lab.

Damage Testing for Better Aviation Safety

UDRI's researchers can perform a wide variety of bird strike and foreign object damage (FOD) impact tests on aircraft structures or aircraft engine components.

Projectiles as small as grains of sand to packages over 100 pounds have been launched using our compressed-gas guns. Impact velocities range from 100 ft/sec to over 1,600 ft/sec. Typical projectiles for testing aircraft structures and engine components to meet FAA/EASA regulations include birds up to 8-pound Canada geese and iceballs to simulate hail impacts.

This facility is also used to evaluate aircraft engine aircraft fan cases and fan case materials for containment against engine blades, discs, or blade fragments liberated from the engine. Impact shock tests, static crush tests, penetration resistance tests, shear/tensile tests, and deep sea pressure tests can be performed on Crash Survivable Memory Units (CSMU) of flight data and cockpit voice recorders in this facility. Subscale as well as full-scale test articles (including full-sized aircraft fuselages) can be accommodated in our environmentally-controlled indoor test facility.

Capabilities

Artificial or real bird testing
Bird strike and hail impact development/certification testing
Digital Image Correlation (DIC) systems for 3-D surface displacement and strain measurements
Five independently operated compressed-gas gun ranges with barrel bore sizes range from 0.22 cal. to 12-inch
Impact velocities up to 1,600 ft/sec
Indoor climate controlled test facility
Instrumented test articles (strain gages, accelerometers, uniaxial and triaxial load cells)
Multiple high-speed data acquisition channels with sampling rates up to 25 Mhz
Multiple high-speed digital HD cameras with framing rates up to 646,000 fps
On-site machine shop for fixture fabrication
Overhead cranes for heavy material handling
Solid modeling for design of complex test article mounting fixtures
Temperature conditioning of test articles (-40°F to 2,000°F)

Typical Projects

Ballistic limit testing of aircraft engine casing materials
Bird strike testing/evaluation of aircraft structures (windshield/canopy, wings, nacelles, empennage, radomes)
Bird strike testing of aircraft engine components (fan blades, propeller blades, spinners, platforms, vanes)
Ceramic Matrix Composite (CMC) damage threshold evaluation
Development of specialty ballistic impact test methods
Fan case and fan case material containment performance for blade/blade fragments
Flight Data Recorder/Cockpit Voice Recorder crash survivability testing per EUROCAE ED-112 specifications
Foreign Object Damage (FOD) testing of aircraft engine components with rocks, bolts, or domestic object fragments
Hail impact testing of aircraft structures and engine components
Impact testing of aircraft components for F-15, F-16, F-18, F-22, F-111, AH-64, AV-8, A-7, T-38, B-1, B-2, A320, B737, B767, B777, MRJ, V-22, and others

Hypervelocity Impact Testing

Testing and Analysis at Hypersonic Speeds

UDRI's hypervelocity impact facility has 2 two-stage light-gas gun ranges for hypervelocity testing at velocities up to 24,600 ft/sec (7.5 km/sec). Applications for this facility include design and evaluation of orbital debris shielding, lethality/survivability for theater missile defense systems, and characterization of Kinetic Energy penetrator performance. The larger two-stage, light-gas gun can be configured into a 75/30/7.62 mm three stage, light-gas gun that has launched spherical projectiles to over 10 km/sec for micro-meteoroid/orbital debris impact testing.

Different projectile shapes can be launched for hypervelocity impact studies including spheres, discs, rods, cubes, and others. Spheres ranging from 1 mm to 19 mm with impact velocities up to 10 km/sec are used to simulate orbital debris threats to spacecraft structures. Typical projectiles for lower velocity impacts below 3 km/sec include long rod penetrators, and segmented and extensible rod penetrators for armor/anti-armor testing.

Capabilities

50/20mm and 75/30mm two-stage, light gas guns (up to 7.5km/sec)
World's fastest three-stage, light-gas gun (over 10 km/s)
High-speed data acquisition up to 25 mhz
Interior ballistics diagnosis
Test samples under stress
Instrumented test samples (strain, accelerometers, load cells)

Typical Projects

Spacecraft shield testing for Micrometeoroid/Orbital Debris MMOD threats
Determination of Thermal Projection Systems (TPS) impact capability
Ballistic Limit Equation (BLE) validation
Debris cloud formation
KE penetrator performance
Insensitive munitions testing

UDRI two-stage light-gas gun ranges for hypervelocity testing. — UDRI's two-stage light-gas gun ranges for hypervelocity testing. The larger two-stage, light-gas gun can be configured into a 75/30/7.62 mm three stage, light-gas gun that can launch spherical projectiles to over 10 km/sec.

Light Armor Testing & Evaluation

High-speed camera images of bullet impact on ceramic armor and protective glass shot with 20mm fragment simulating projectiles. — High-speed camera images of bullet impact on ceramic armor (left) and protective glass shot with 20mm fragment simulating projectiles (right).

Testing and Qualification for Better Protection

UDRI's Impact Physics Laboratory has the facilities and expertise to carry out armor qualification, body armor testing, ballistic limit evaluation, light-armor vehicle testing, numerical code validation, and penetration studies.

This lab features an extensive array of both smoothbore and rifled barrels from 0.22 caliber through 30mm and a compliment of both NATO and foreign Ball and Armor Piercing ammunition. Our researchers can launch a wide variety of projectiles used for sport, hunting, defense, law enforcement and military, as well as long rod penetrators (LRPs), fragment simulating projectiles (FSPs), and saboted munitions.

We test to both domestic and foreign commercial and military standards; you can download our ballistic standards list below.

Capabilities / Typical Projects

Armor development and certification testing
Ballistic limit evaluation of light armor materials
High velocity fragmentation studies
Penetration resistance studies of geologic materials

Contact us and let us help with your needs in armor testing and qualification, ballistics evaluation, vehicle armor testing, and penetration research.