Control of fragment sizes of exploding rings

TL;DR

This study explores how explosive loading causes different fragmentation patterns in ring-like brittle structures, revealing transitions from segmentation to shattering influenced by strain rate and ring thickness.

Contribution

It introduces a systematic analysis of fragmentation regimes in rings, identifying critical parameters and transitions, and proposes a scaling law for shattering behavior.

Findings

Transition from 1D segmentation to 2D fragmentation with increasing strain rate

Existence of a critical ring thickness where segmentation stops

Scaling law relating shattering strain rate to ring thickness

Abstract

We investigate the fragmentation of ring-like brittle structures under explosive loading using a discrete element model. By systematically varying ring thickness and strain rate, we uncover a transition from one-dimensional (1D) segmentation to two-dimensional (2D) planar fragmentation and, ultimately, to complete shattering. This transition is driven by the effective dimensionality of the crack pattern, which evolves with increasing strain rate. We identify a critical ring thickness beyond which segmentation ceases, and fragmentation directly follows a power-law mass distribution characteristic of 2D systems. In the crossover regime, spanning and non-spanning fragments coexist, enabling control over the power-law exponent of the mass distribution. At very high strain rates, we observe a transition to complete shattering, where the system follows a novel scaling law relating the shattering strain rate to ring thickness. Our results provide fundamental insights into fragmentation universality classes and offer potential applications in space debris prediction, controlled detonation technologies, and materials engineering.