Precise and Efficient Damage to Engineering Structures Using Embowed Linear Explosively Formed Projectile

ABSTRACT

Upon detonation of the shaped charges, the liner exhibits fluid‐like behavior under the high detonation pressure on the order of 10 ² –10 ³ GPa. It is rapidly collapsed by the detonation wave and converges toward the symmetry axis, ultimately forming a high‐speed penetrator. Linear‐Shaped Charges (LSCs), renowned for their directional penetration capability and high cutting efficiency, are widely utilized in offshore engineering for subsea structure cutting, pipeline severing, and platform decommissioning. However, the inherent jet formation mechanism of conventional LSCs limits the coverage area to the charge length, fundamentally restricting the maximum attainable damage range in confined operational environments. To overcome this limitation, an advanced configuration−Embowed Linear Explosively Formed Projectile (ELEFP)–is designed in this study. The damage effects of the ELEFP are examined through near‐field air‐burst experiments, and the plastic flow behavior of the liner metal during formation and penetration is further investigated through Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) method. The results indicate that the ELEFP can effectively increase the penetration length and induce over‐caliber damage to target structures. Moreover, the consistency between experimental and numerical results validates the efficacy of the SPH method. Furthermore, the effects of charge height, liner curvature, liner material, liner thickness, and standoff distance on ELEFP's damage characteristics are investigated. The orthogonal design combined with range analysis is employed to optimize the ELEFP configuration. After optimization, the length and width of penetration are improved by 26.26% and 15.34%, respectively. Finally, the effectiveness of the optimized ELEFP configuration is evaluated against marine pipelines under different initial deployment orientations.