Maximizing the Performance of Cased Munitions Under Realistic Constraints

In order to make the process of fragmentation of warhead cases more systematic, we have developed a procedure that makes use of nonlinear optimization to derive optimal values for case design parameters subject to various design constraints. A framework has been developed that makes use of the optimization software package LS-OPT driving the hydrocode CTH (CTH is developed and maintained at Sandia National Laboratories, LS-OPT is commercially available from Livermore Software Technology Corp.). CTH was used to model the explosive detonation and determine the resultant kinetic energy delivered to the case by the energetic material. As an example of application of the framework, a test problem was run using a case configuration consisting alternating titanium alloy and polymer layers.