Damage mechanism of the human thorax under the combined loading of fragment group and shock waves

In order to investigate the coupled damage mechanism of personnel target under the combined loading of shock waves and fragment group. In this paper, a finite element model of the human thorax is constructed and the validity of the model is verified through comparison with literature data. The effects of shock waves, fragment group loading alone, and joint loading of shock waves and fragment group on the dynamic response of the thorax are analysed using the fluid-solid coupling method (ALE). The results indicated that the organs in contact with the anterior chest wall suffered the most damage under shock waves loading, meanwhile stress waves caused damage to the lungs. The fragment group penetrated the thorax, resulting in transient cavity damage, extrusion deformation damage, tearing and traction damage Furthermore, under the combined effect of shock waves and fragment group, the cumulative effect of the fragment group had a damage enhancement effect on organs closer to the point of impact and was greater than the sum of the damage caused by the shock waves and fragment group alone.