Application of steady state maximum entropy methods to high kinetic energy impacts on ceramic targets

The maximum entropy method is used to investigate the fragmentation and pulverization of ceramics subjected to high energy impacts. Since the exact physical processes that occur during high energy impacts on ceramic targets is not completely known, the calculation of the details of these interactions can at best be approximate. However, many of the general features of what will happen are known, such as conservation of energy-momentum and thermodynamic laws act as constraints on any model. The maximum entropy incorporates by the method of constraints everything known to be correct into the model. The more constrained the system the better the model. Several important developments arise: It is important that the ceramic be confined long enough for the ceramic to be pulverized; and there will be, in general, a lower bound on the minimal size of the pulverized ceramics consistent with the properties of the ceramic and the kinetic energy of the penetrator. A sample application for a steady state erosion process due to the abrasive ceramic powder acting on the penetrator is discussed. The transfer of energy-momentum from the penetrator to the ceramic is shown to depend on the degree of pulverization and characteristic frequency associated with the impact event. Improvements and future directions for study are described in the conclusions. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.