These threats include being hit by a variety of enemy munitions, exposure to fire, and the reaction of co-located items. This research is a critical factor in enhancing the survivability of tanks and other weapons systems that carry stored ammunition in compartments. The team's research is also useful for other applications such as the development and selection of munition propellants, armor development, vehicle design and construction of ammunition storage compartments. However, it's the area of survivability, where predicting munition response accurately can save the lives of soldiers, that is the most detailed and exacting. Dr. Patrick Baker, a mechanical engineer with the team, points out that predicting munition response starts with looking at the response of a single grain propellant and how that behavior interacts with the other grains that make up the propellant.
Gibbons says that their studies always progress from single grain consideration to bulk effects.
A grain in a particular propellant may not react to one threat, but if you hit it with a different threat, it transfers very nicely to its neighbor and the bulk effect is very serious. He adds that the team is now working on developing computer models of the behavior of individual grains and different shapes of propellants. He points out that they have a wide range of threat capabilities such as shaped charges, small kinetic energy penetrators and explosively formed penetrators as well as the capacity to measure the energetic response of test munitions being investigated. Currently, the team's biggest More customers are the Army Armaments Research, Development and Engineering Center and the Tank and Automotive Command. Both Gibbons and Baker say the team welcomes other customers as well.