Verification, Sensitivity, and Operating Limits of a GPU-Accelerated Planar WCSPH Model for Hydrodynamic Ram

Abstract

Hydrodynamic ram (HRAM) loading remains a persistent challenge in impact mechanics, less due to exotic physics than to the difficulty of achieving convincing quantitative agreement in reduced-order representations. Prevailing studies typically employ a single mesh and boundary treatment validated against one experimental dataset, leaving unresolved whether agreement reflects genuine fidelity or compensating discretization errors. This work presents a planar 2D, GPU-accelerated WCSPH solver employing an Adami-type ghost-particle boundary condition, extended for the first time to a moving, decelerating disk penetrating a confined liquid channel at ballistic velocity. The boundary condition is examined against a purpose-derived potential-flow added-mass solution and the analytical acoustic reflection coefficient at the steel-water interface; this exploration reveals that the stiff equation of state and cavitation cutoff impose identifiable delineation of the solver's operating regime on quantitative agreement. A three-point resolution convergence study reveals a non-monotone near-probe pressure peak, attributed to a bounded ghost-fluid density inconsistency. A comprehensive coefficient sweep, conservation diagnostics, and O(N) GPU throughput scaling enable exhaustive characterization impractical in 3D. Qualitative comparison against literature evidence at 900 and 600m/s clarifies load bearing versus approximate elements. Notably, energy diagnostics reveal a modest total energy growth over the simulated window, with the fluid absorbing disproportionately more energy than the projectile relinquishes - an instructive signature of prescribed, non-back-reacting projectile kinematics that helps map the formulation's operating envelope. The resulting solver, while confined to planar geometry, delivers verified, convergence-checked performance well suited for rapid parametric design exploration.

47 pages, 12 figures