Investigation of the influence of standoff distance of explosive charge on the response of circular metallic plates

In this paper, the experimental study and regression analysis of the dynamic response of metal plates under impulsive loading are investigated. For this purpose, in the experimental section, 86 experiments were performed on metal plates under different conditions. The plates were made of steel, copper and aluminum in a circular shape. The effect of the measured parameters in the experimental tests such as plate thickness, loading impulse, charge mass, and standoff distance on the circular plates deflection were evaluated simultaneously using the Design-Expert software package and response surface methodology. In this study, the material of the plates is considered as an independent qualitative parameter. In order to find a significant model, the confidence level of 95% was considered in the analysis. In this study, the value of R2 and R_adj^2 was 0.9746 and 0.9673, respectively. The results show that the predicted values of the models are in good agreement with the experimental tests and the presented models are suitable. Optimal conditions for the minimum deflection of the circular plates under impulsive loading were also presented. The impulse loading has the highest effect and the mass of the charge has the least effect on the plate deflection.