Coupled Experimental and Numerical Parametric Study of Projectile Penetration into Granular Sandy Soils under Low-Velocity Impact

Coupled Experimental and Numerical Parametric Study of Projectile Penetration into Granular Sandy Soils under Low-Velocity Impact | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Coupled Experimental and Numerical Parametric Study of Projectile Penetration into Granular Sandy Soils under Low-Velocity Impact Abdul-Rahman K. Osman, Ahmed Elshesheny, Mohamed S. Zahran, Nabil M. Nagy This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8989200/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted 15 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract This study conducts a parametric macroscopic study on soil-projectile interaction under low-velocity penetration with a focus on the joint effect of granular soil properties and projectile characteristics. First, experimental free-fall vertical dropping tests were performed on conical-headed projectiles with different apex angles and weights penetrating compacted sandy soil with different degrees of relative density. More extensive studies were carried out through numerical simulation performed with the Abaqus 2024 software with the purpose of validating the experimental test results as well as examining other variables such as different internal friction angles, dropping heights, projectile diameters, nose configurations, angles of impact, as well as cratering. Support studies involved analyses focusing on projectile acceleration, energy absorption, stress, and plastic strain distribution in the soil body. Taken together, both testing and simulation results suggest that the penetrating depth varies negatively with increasing internal friction angles as well as relative soil density, but positively with increasing apex angles, weights, and dropping heights, with the reverse being true for diminutive projectile diameters as well as incident angles of ninety degrees. Also, crater diameter varies directly with apex angles, dropping heights, as well as projectile diameter. This body of work thus provides a basic background for further studies on medium-to-high-velocity penetrating interaction as well as more effective soil hardening measures aimed at maximizing penetration resistance. Physical sciences/Engineering Earth and environmental sciences/Environmental sciences Earth and environmental sciences/Natural hazards Earth and environmental sciences/Solid earth sciences Projectile penetration Low-velocity impact Sand Experimental Testing Finite element modeling Coupled Eulerian-Lagrangian (CEL) Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Supplementary Files GraphicalAbstract.pdf Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Revision requested 01 Apr, 2026 Reviews received at journal 01 Apr, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 31 Mar, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 30 Mar, 2026 Reviews received at journal 29 Mar, 2026 Reviews received at journal 27 Mar, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 26 Mar, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 26 Mar, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 26 Mar, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 26 Mar, 2026 Reviewers invited by journal 26 Mar, 2026 Editor invited by journal 26 Mar, 2026 Editor assigned by journal 01 Mar, 2026 Submission checks completed at journal 01 Mar, 2026 First submitted to journal 27 Feb, 2026 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-8989200","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":614051734,"identity":"a1f5f7c2-2334-4027-a5f7-38af36b388f2","order_by":0,"name":"Abdul-Rahman K. 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First, experimental free-fall vertical dropping tests were performed on conical-headed projectiles with different apex angles and weights penetrating compacted sandy soil with different degrees of relative density. More extensive studies were carried out through numerical simulation performed with the Abaqus 2024 software with the purpose of validating the experimental test results as well as examining other variables such as different internal friction angles, dropping heights, projectile diameters, nose configurations, angles of impact, as well as cratering. Support studies involved analyses focusing on projectile acceleration, energy absorption, stress, and plastic strain distribution in the soil body. 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This body of work thus provides a basic background for further studies on medium-to-high-velocity penetrating interaction as well as more effective soil hardening measures aimed at maximizing penetration resistance.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Coupled Experimental and Numerical Parametric Study of Projectile Penetration into Granular Sandy Soils under Low-Velocity Impact","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2026-03-31 20:16:49","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8989200/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0},{"type":"decision","content":"Revision requested","date":"2026-04-01T06:51:37+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2026-04-01T05:57:26+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"105178294536321867798701186934332903589","date":"2026-04-01T03:11:57+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"230826970481516518135757438951093517053","date":"2026-03-30T06:58:49+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2026-03-29T14:20:31+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2026-03-27T08:42:29+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"69721030695471301293623138353283493863","date":"2026-03-26T15:07:00+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"315777275702643321897057823425057530596","date":"2026-03-26T14:11:44+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"253114507803763184539122640176291001515","date":"2026-03-26T12:24:41+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"4628185060422410589529981699624185592","date":"2026-03-26T12:23:16+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewersInvited","content":"","date":"2026-03-26T12:12:22+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvited","content":"","date":"2026-03-26T11:14:46+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorAssigned","content":"","date":"2026-03-02T04:08:39+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"checksComplete","content":"","date":"2026-03-02T04:07:26+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"submitted","content":"Scientific Reports","date":"2026-02-27T14:31:12+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"scientific-reports","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"scirep","sideBox":"Learn more about [Scientific Reports](http://www.nature.com/srep/)","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"","title":"Scientific Reports","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"stoa","reportingPortfolio":"Scientific Reports","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"c515badb-a9b7-4e79-acbb-ccb413595cc1","owner":[],"postedDate":"March 31st, 2026","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"under-review","subjectAreas":[{"id":65338496,"name":"Physical sciences/Engineering"},{"id":65338497,"name":"Earth and environmental sciences/Environmental sciences"},{"id":65338498,"name":"Earth and environmental sciences/Natural hazards"},{"id":65338499,"name":"Earth and environmental sciences/Solid earth sciences"}],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2026-04-27T11:53:58+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2026-03-31 20:16:49","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-8989200","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-8989200","identity":"rs-8989200","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"XKTyCvWXoU3ODBz1xrDgd","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}