Combustion, Explosion, and Shock Waves, Vol. 48, No. 6, pp. 718–723, 2012.

Original Russian Text 

c W.-B. Li, X.-M. Wang, W.-B. Li, Yu. Zheng.

Method of Converting a Multimode Penetrator

through Point Initiation

W.-B. Lia , X.-M. Wanga , UDC 623.562

W.-B. Lia , and Yu. Zhenga

Translated from Fizika Goreniya i Vzryva, Vol. 48, No. 6, pp. 70–75, November–December, 2012.
Original article submitted April 5, 2011; revision submitted November 10, 2011.

Abstract: This study presents the problem of achieving multimode penetrator conversion. By us-
ing the same shaped charge and by changing the position of point initiation, the trial demonstrates
two types of the penetrator, which are the explosively formed penetrator (EFP) and the rod-shaped
EFP. Compared with the EFP, the penetration depth of the rod-shaped EFP is 2.17 times higher,
and the penetration aperture only decreases by 31.8%.
Keywords: point initiation position, explosively formed penetrator (EFP), rod-shaped EFP,
detonation wave, numerical simulation.
DOI: 10.1134/S001050821206010X

INTRODUCTION tion techniques. Fong [4–6] put forward the concept of

To enable the use of the same ammunition for mul-
tiple attack modes in the battlefield, research into the
shaped-charge techniques used in multimode warheads
has become an important field of study. The method of
achieving the multimode penetrator conversion is one of
the most important technology features in the research
of multimode shaped charges. Researchers have studied
multimode warheads and the achievement of multimode
penetrator conversion through changing the initiation
mode. For example, Whelan [1] designed a multiple-
effect warhead, which had a main warhead forming a
jet through peripheral initiation and a precursor war-
head to form the slow stretching jet (SSJ). Steinmann
and Lösch [2] studied the multimode explosively formed
penetrator (EFP) warhead, which could form a stable
flying explosively formed projectile through central ini-
tiation, a segmented/stretching EFP through ring ini-
tiation, and a fragmented EFP through ring initiation
with a time delay of 4 µs at the central initiation point.
Baker and Daniels [3] studied the selectable initiation
shaped charges, which can be used against light armor,
geologic materials, and so on, by changing the initia-
a
Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Nanjing,
210094 China; njustlwb@163.com.
718 0010-5082/12/4806-0718 
c 2012 by Pleiades Publishing, Ltd.
a new selectable explosively formed penetrator warhead
and a three-mode EFP [stable flying EFP, stretching
EFP, and multiple EFP (MEFP)]. He also ran simu-
lations and trials to research the three types of EFP
performance for different initiation modes. Bender et
al. [6] used Dyna2D software to simulate various shapes
that the penetrator could have by changing the position
of the peripheral initiation in the EFP charging struc-
ture. They discovered that, when the ring was near
the central point, steady flight of the EFP was possible;
when it was far from the central point, a stretched EFP
could be formed. When Jiang et al. [7], using simula-
tion, researched the formation and penetration effect of
a multimode penetrator, they found that the position
of the initiation point could clearly change the penetra-
tor shape. The penetrator stretched gradually with the
increase of the initiation annulus, and the penetrator
length/diameter ratio and its velocity also increased.
However, they did not study the effect of the change in
the position of single-point initiation on the penetrator
shape. If only the mode of point initiation is adopted
and multimode penetrator conversion is achieved by
changing its initiation position, the difficult problem of
achieving annular initiation can be solved.
Method of Converting a Multimode Penetrator through Point Initiation
Results of the trial
v, m/s
Configuration t1 , µs t2 , µs
v1 v2
Q 120 160 2982 2407
O 120 160 3006 2352
P 120 200 2129 1919
Initially, we studied the effect of annular multi-
point initiation on EFP formation and penetration [8].
We determined the number of initiation points neces-
sary to replace peripheral initiation. We found that
the formed penetrator cannot bend if the multi-point
synchronized initiation deviation is less than 200 ns.
However, even if the multi-point synchronized initia-
tion deviation excited in the trial is decreased to a min-
imum, it can still influence the penetrator formation, es-
pecially the penetrator tail, which leads to poor stability
of the EFP and affects the final penetration. Through
research on the effect of the point initiation position
on EFP forming [9], we found that the length/diameter
ratio and velocity of the penetrator increased notice-
ably with an increase in the axial distance between the
liner and the initiation point, which is the same as the
effect of the initiation annulus on the EFP in [8]. Ac-
cordingly, we determined whether we could achieve EFP
and rod-shaped EFP conversion by changing the posi-
tion of the initiation point. Using LS-DYNA software,
we researched the influence of the detonation wave on
the liner and penetrator formation for different point
initiation positions.
TRIAL RESEARCH
To validate the feasibility of creating a multimode
EFP by changing the position of point initiation, we
designed a prototype trial liner structure (Fig. 1). The
charge was initiated at the central point O (configura-
tion O) or at the point P (configuration P ). For initi-
ation at the point P , a 7-mm diameter hole was bored
through the liner apex to install a standard detonator
No. 8. For initiation at the point O, the hole was bored
in the charge shell. Moreover, in the case of initiation
at the point O, we also used the liner without the hole
at its apex (configuration Q) to validate whether boring
the liner apex could affect the penetrator forming with
the same charge structure. We were able to form a rod-
shaped EFP through initiation at the central point O
719
D/Dk L/Dk L/D
h/Dk h /Dk
t1 t2 t1 t2 t1
0.37 0.30 1.17 1.55 3.16 1.41 0.32
0.38 0.32 1.18 1.64 3.11 1.5 0.3
0.46 0.6 0.67 0.92 1.46 0.69 0.44
(configuration O) and form an EFP through apex initi-
ation (configuration P ).
The trial revealed the penetrator shape and param-
eters (length, diameter, and velocities of the projectile
head and tail) for different configurations through x-ray
imaging. Two Hewlett-Packard machines with a voltage
of 450 kV were used. They were set up in a 45◦ con-
verging manner. The shaped charge was laid upright on
the stand-off cylinder (the stand-off distance was 10Dk ,
where Dk is the charge caliber).
The x-ray photographs of the projectile shape at
120 µs after initiation can be seen from Fig. 2. Each
photo has a white line, which is a reference mark line
mounted on the x-ray negative box to facilitate the nu-
merical identification of the x-ray negative. The pen-
etrator parameters of each configuration of the charge
are summarized in Table 1: v is the average velocity be-
tween two exposures, v1 is the head velocity of the pene-
trator, v2 is the tail velocity, L/D is the length/diameter
ratio of the penetrator at the time t1 , t1 is the imaging
time of the first x-ray image, and t2 is the imaging time
of the second x-ray image. Compared with the EFP
formed by the configuration P , the velocity of the rod-
shaped EFP formed by the configuration O is greater
by 41.2%, and the length/diameter ratio L/D is higher
by 2.13 times.
The trial also revealed the penetration results for
each configuration (see the table): h is the penetra-
tion depth and h is the penetration aperture. It was
observed that configuration O produced a rod-shaped
penetration bore, and configuration P produced an
ellipsoid-shaped penetration bore. Compared with the
EFP formed by configuration P , the penetration depth
of the rod-shaped EFP formed by configuration O is
greater by 2.17 times, and the penetration aperture only
decreases by 31.8%.
Comparing the results of configurations Q and O,
such as the penetrator shape, formation parameters,
penetration bore shape, and penetration parameters, we
can see that the 7-mm diameter bored hole in the liner
apex has little effect on EFP forming.
720
Fig. 1. Shaped-charge structure and distribution of the initiation points.
Fig. 2. Penetrator shape of different charge configurations: Q (a), O (b), and P (c) (t = 120 µs).
EFP FORMATION MECHANISM
WITH VARIATION OF THE
INITIATION POINT
Using LS-DYNA simulation software, we re-
searched liner compression by the detonation wave for
different point initiation positions and analyzed the for-
mation mechanism of the multimode EFP. To solve
the problem of large deformation of the grids and the
flowing material, we used the arbitrary Lagrange–Euler
(ALE) algorithm to calculate the EFP formation pro-
cess [8, 10, 11]. The method of establishing the simula-
tion model and choosing the material model are given
in [8]. As the complete assembly has an axisymmetric
structure, the finite-element three-dimensional model is
all that is required to establish a 1/4 model structure
base for symmetry. In the calculation, the 8701 explo-
sive described by the Jones–Wilkins–Lee (JWL) state
equation is used, which has a density of 1.713 g/cm3
and a detonation speed of 7980 m/s. The liner material
is pure copper, and the shell material is No. 45 steel.
The dynamic behavior of these materials subjected to
the detonation wave is described by the Johnson–Cook
model and by the Grüneisen state equation. The state
equation for air has a polynomial form.
Li et al.
As the trial proved that the opened bored hole in
the liner apex had little effect on penetrator forming
results, the three-dimension simulation model has no
bored hole to facilitate the formation of the simulation
model (Fig. 3).
Liner Compression
Changing the point initiation position can result
in different compression of the liner by the detonation
wave. As it follows from Fig. 3, the detonation wave
front under the initiation point is a spherical surface.
When configuration O is used, the spherical wave be-
gins to press on the liner at t = 9 µs. When config-
uration P is used, the spherical wave begins to press
on the liner immediately after initiation of the main
charge. Furthermore, the distribution of the maximum
detonation pressure is different each time. Figure 4a
shows the behavior of the maximum detonation pressure
in the course of detonation wave propagation over the
charge. Initially the detonation pressure increases, then
decreases quickly to a fixed value, and finally slowly di-
minishes. The pressure peak value of the detonation
wave formed by central point initiation is reached later
than in the case of liner apex initiation, because the det-
onation wave formed by central point initiation needs to
Method of Converting a Multimode Penetrator through Point Initiation 721

Fig. 3. Detonation propagation in the charge and liner compression: configuration O (a and b) and
configuration P (c and d); detonation propagation (a and c) and liner compression (b and d).

Fig. 4. Pressure profile in the detonation wave propagating over the charge (a) and profile of
detonation pressure acting on the liner (b).

diffuse over a period of time in the main charge before
pressing on the liner. The detonation pressure decreases
between 12 and 15 µs at central point initiation and be-
tween 9 and 12 µs at liner apex initiation, because there
is a gap formed between the liner and the explosive un-
der the pressing action of the detonation wave during
this time, and the detonation loading rapidly decreases.
Liner compression is illustrated in Fig. 3. The det-
onation pressure acting on the liner is shown in Fig. 4b.
The change trend of the curve is the same as the change
trend of the maximum detonation pressure of the deto-
nation wave in Fig. 4a. The peak of the pressure acting
on the liner in the case of initiation with configuration
O is much higher than that in the case of initiation with
configuration P , and the pressure increases instantly at
the time t = 9 µs. The spherical wave presses on the
liner apex first, which leads to a greater velocity of the
EFP head. The domain with the maximum detonation
pressure acting on the liner (see Fig. 3) is greater in
the case of configuration P than in the case of configura-
tion O, and several cells of the liner are pressed simulta-
neously. Therefore, the penetrator formed by liner apex
initiation has a smaller velocity gradient, whereas the
maximum pressure domain is relatively concentrated in
the case of initiation with configuration O.
722 Li et al.

Fig. 5. EFP formed at 120 µs after point initiation: simulation results (a and b)
and experimental results (c and d); configuration P for d = 0 (a and c) and
configuration O for d/Dk = 0.72 (b and d).

Fig. 6. Velocity (a) and length/diameter ratio (b) versus d/Dk at 120 µs after initiation at the central point:
(a) points 1 and 2 refer to the calculated and experimental head velocity, respectively; points 3 and 4 refer
to the calculated and experimental tail velocity, respectively.

Effect of Point Initiation Position
on EFP Formation
After the explosive charge is initiated at the cen-
tral point, the detonation wave pattern is a spherical
surface before the detonation wave arrives at the liner
apex. Depending on the initiation position, the deto-
nation wave intensity and, as a consequence, EFP for-
mation parameters change. Different configurations are
formed if the charge is initiated at points P , A, B, C,
D, E, and O. In particular, we studied the effect of
the axial distance d between the liner and the initiation
point on EFP formation. The distance between the ini-
tiation points is 12 mm (see Fig. 1). The EFP formation
results for each configuration are obtained by numeri-
cal simulations, and the typical simulation results are
compared with the trial results in Fig. 5. The distance
d = 0 for configuration P (Figs. 5a and 5c) means that
the initiation point is located at the liner apex.
Figure 6 shows the calculated EFP formation pa-
rameters with initiation at the central point. In this
figure, v is the velocity and L/D is the length/diameter
ratio (the tail of the penetrator was broken in the trial,
so the greatest diameter of the corresponding entity part
was used as D). With an increase in the axial distance
between the liner and the initiation point from 0 to 0.72
times the charge caliber, the EFP velocity increases by
48.6%, and the length/diameter ratio increases by a fac-
tor of 2.22.
Analyzing the data in Figs. 5 and 6, we see the
influence of the axial distance between the liner and
initiation point: for the same charge configuration, ow-
ing to an increase in this distance, the head veloc-
ity of the penetrator increases gradually, the velocity
gradient increases, the penetrator stretches gradually,
the length/diameter ratio L/D increases, and the EFP
turns to a rod-shaped EFP.
Method of Converting a Multimode Penetrator through Point Initiation
CONCLUSIONS
For the same shaped-charge structure, the EFP and
rod-shaped EFP can be obtained by changing the point
initiation position. The rod-shaped EFP is formed by
central point initiation at the end of the charge, and the
EFP is formed by liner apex initiation. Compared with
the EFP, the length/diameter ratio L/D of the rod-
shaped EFP is 2.13 times greater, its velocity is greater
by 41.2%, the penetration depth is greater by a factor
of 2.17, and the penetration aperture only decreases by
31.8%. The 7-mm diameter hole in the liner apex has
little effect on the penetrator forming results, while the
effect of the bored hole size on penetrator forming needs
to be researched further.
The effect of the point initiation position on pene-
trator formation was simulated, and the EFP formation
parameters are found to change hyperbolically with in-
creasing axial distance between the liner and the initia-
tion point. As the axial distance between the liner and
the initiation point increases from 0 to 0.72Dk , the EFP
velocity increases by 48.6%, and the length/diameter
ratio increases by a factor of 2.22.
The work presented in this paper has been
funded by the National Natural Science Foundation
of China (No. 11202103) and by the Graduate Re-
search and Innovation Foundation of Jiangsu province
(No. CX09B 087Z).
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