The Failure Mechanism of Frangible Nose Cap upon Water Impact

The damage process and dominant factors influencing the damage pattern of the nose cap during water impact are analyzed in order to study the fracture mechanism and theoretical design method of the nose cap. The numerical simulation and water entry experiment are carried out for the nose cap with given boundary conditions. The research shows that the mode of “wedging-in damage” is the effective damage pattern of nose cap during water entry. The strength matching design between the top portion and the weak-links is a necessary condition for the nose cap to implement this damage mode. The concept of feasible region of nose cap is advanced as the theoretical boundary of structural design of the nose cap.