Transition and Optimization of Particle Impact Mitigation Sleeve Design between Munitions of Different Physical Parameters

Military munitions that fall within the NATO portfolio must be tested in accordance with Insensitive Munitions AOP-4496 Fragment Impact (FI) Testing. Under this test, a conical, steel cylinder is launched at the munition at 8300fps, and the response of the munition is evaluated for reactions ranging from violent detonation, to benign burning reaction. Standard practice to mitigate a violent detonation reaction from occurring is to develop barrier technologies (e.g. armor) that can reduce the velocity, and overall kinetic energy of the fragment to a level that will not produce a violent response of the munition. Previously, a technology known as Particle Impact Mitigation Sleeve (PIMS) that was developed for a specific munition, successfully reduced the munition’s response from a detonation, to a benign burn. This PIMS design is currently being evaluated for application to a different munition. While these different munitions produce similar responses without the PIMS, their energetic content, munition physical parameters, and packaging materiel are different, which can substantially affect the response of the munition to FI. This paper will describe the transition and optimization of the PIMS design to successfully mitigate the new munition’s response to the FI threat.