A Reactive Deflector Technology for Vehicle and Crew Protection from Landmine and IED Blast

The objective of the proposed research is to develop a new computational design methodology with an innovative reactive structural concept for a deflector that can be installed in current and future tactical vehicle systems for crew and vehicle protection from landmine blast and improvised explosive device (IED) assaults. A major concern with the state-of-the-art deflector technology is that installing a protective deflector under the vehicle chassis usually requires raising the vehicle CG (center of gravity), which may result in problems with maneuvering, vehicle rollover, and an increased foot-print – ultimately affecting vehicle’s mobility and survivability. Using the new reactive deflector technology, the deflector can reconfigure itself from a normal working state to blast protective mode upon detection of an explosive blast. This avoids the above mentioned problems by raising the CG minimally, thus reducing the risk to both crew and vehicle. Major tasks include the development of basic concepts for reactive deflector; shape optimization of deflector for protection against blast overpressure and fragment penetration; the development of fundamental mechanism of re-configurable material distribution; and the concept development for embedded sensors and igniter that can detect blast energy and initiate the reactive structure. Phase II research will focus on the development of a computer simulation code for the deflector design and validation for its effectiveness in occupant survivability in a tactical vehicle underbelly landmine blast and IED fragments impact.