To study the anti-explosion protection effect of polyurea coating on reinforced concrete box girder,two segmental girder specimens were made at a scale of 1:3,numbered as G(without polyurea coating)and PCG(with polyur...To study the anti-explosion protection effect of polyurea coating on reinforced concrete box girder,two segmental girder specimens were made at a scale of 1:3,numbered as G(without polyurea coating)and PCG(with polyurea coating).The failure characteristics and dynamic responses of the specimens were compared through conducting explosion tests.The reliability of the numerical simulation using LS-DYNA software was verified by the test results.The effects of different scaled distances,reinforcement ratios,concrete strengths,coating thicknesses and ranges of polyurea were studied.The results show that the polyurea coating can effectively enhance the anti-explosion performance of the girder.The top plate of middle chamber in specimen G forms an elliptical penetrating hole,while that in specimen PCG only shows a very slight local dent.The peak vertical displacement and residual displacement of PCG decrease by 74.8% and 73.7%,respectively,compared with those of specimen G.For the TNT explosion with small equivalent,the polyurea coating has a more significant protective effect on reducing the size of fracture.With the increase of TNT equivalent,the protective effect of polyurea on reducing girder displacement becomes more significant.The optimal reinforcement ratio,concrete strength,thickness and range of polyurea coating were also drawn.展开更多
This paper investigates the three-dimensional crack propagation and damage evolution process of metallic column shells under internal explosive loading.The calibration of four typical failure parameters for 40CrMnSiB ...This paper investigates the three-dimensional crack propagation and damage evolution process of metallic column shells under internal explosive loading.The calibration of four typical failure parameters for 40CrMnSiB steel was conducted through experiments and subsequently applied to simulations.The numerical simulation results employing the four failure criteria were compared with the differences and similarities observed in freeze-recovery tests and ultra-high-speed tests.This analysis addressed the critical issue of determining failure criteria for the fracture of a metal shell under internal explosive loads.Building upon this foundation,the damage parameter D_(c),linked to the cumulative crack density,was defined based on the evolution characteristics of a substantial number of cracks.The relationship between the damage parameter and crack velocity over time was established,and the influence of the internal central pressure on the damage parameter and crack velocity was investigated.Variations in the fracture modes were found under different failure criteria,with the principal strain failure criterion proving to be the most effective for simulating 3D crack propagation in a pure shear fracture mode.Through statistical analysis of the shell penetration fracture radius data,it was determined that the fracture radius remained essentially constant during the crack evolution process and could be considered a constant.The propagation velocity of axial cracks ranged between 5300 m/s and 12600 m/s,surpassing the Rayleigh wave velocity of the shell material and decreasing linearly with time.The increase in shell damage exhibited an initial rapid phase,followed by deceleration,demonstrating accelerated damage during the propagation stage of the blast wave and decelerated damage after the arrival of the rarefaction wave.This study provides an effective approach for investigating crack propagation and damage evolution.The derived crack propagation and damage evolution law serves as a valuable reference for the development of crack velocity theory and the construction of shell damage evolution modes.展开更多
Instrumented experiments were conducted in concrete models to study the explosion-induced radial strain and fracture effect of rock-like media under confined explosion with a charge of cyclonite. As a charge was explo...Instrumented experiments were conducted in concrete models to study the explosion-induced radial strain and fracture effect of rock-like media under confined explosion with a charge of cyclonite. As a charge was exploded, two different radial strain waves were sequentially recorded by a strain gage at a distance of 80 mm from the center of charge. Through the attenuation formula of the maximum compressive strain(εrmax), the distribution of εrmax and its strain rate( ) between the charge and gage were obtained. The effect of the two waves propagating outwards on the radial fracture of surrounding media was discussed. The results show that the two waves are pertinent to the loading of shock energy (Es) and bubble energy (Eb) against concrete surrounding charge, respectively. The former wave lasts for much shorter time than the latter. The peak values of εrmax and of the former are higher than those of the latter, respectively.展开更多
The compression and energy absorption properties of foam geopolymers increase stress wave attenuation under explosion impacts,reducing the vibration effect on the structure.Explosion tests were conducted using several...The compression and energy absorption properties of foam geopolymers increase stress wave attenuation under explosion impacts,reducing the vibration effect on the structure.Explosion tests were conducted using several composite structure models,including a concrete lining structure(CLS)without foam geopolymer and six foam geopolymer composite structures(FGCS)with different backfill parameters,to study the dynamic response and wave dissipation mechanisms of FGCS under explosive loading.Pressure,strain,and vibration responses at different locations were synchronously tested.The damage modes and dynamic responses of different models were compared,and how wave elimination and energy absorption efficiencies were affected by foam geopolymer backfill parameters was analyzed.The results showed that the foam geopolymer absorbed and dissipated the impact energy through continuous compressive deformation under high strain rates and dynamic loading,reducing the strain in the liner structure by 52%and increasing the pressure attenuation rate by 28%.Additionally,the foam geopolymer backfill reduced structural vibration and liner deformation,with the FGCS structure showing 35%less displacement and 70%less acceleration compared to the CLS.The FGCS model with thicker,less dense foam geopolymer backfill,having more pores and higher porosity,demonstrated better compression and energy absorption under dynamic impact,increasing stress wave attenuation efficiency.By analyzing the stress wave propagation and the compression characteristics of the porous medium,it was concluded that the stress transfer ratio of FGCS-ρ-579 was 77%lower than that of CLS,and the transmitted wave energy was 90%lower.The results of this study provide a scientific basis for optimizing underground composite structure interlayer parameters.展开更多
Reactive Materials(RMs),a new material with structural and energy release characteristics under shockinduced chemical reactions,are promising in extensive applications in national defense and military fields.They can ...Reactive Materials(RMs),a new material with structural and energy release characteristics under shockinduced chemical reactions,are promising in extensive applications in national defense and military fields.They can increase the lethality of warheads due to their dual functionality.This paper focuses on the energy release characteristics of RM casings prepared by alloy melting and casting process under explosive loading.Explosion experiments of RM and conventional 2A12 aluminum alloy casings were conducted in free field to capture the explosive fireballs,temperature distribution,peak overpressure of the air shock wave and the fracture morphology of fragments of reactive material(RM)warhead casings by using high-speed camera,infrared thermal imager temperature and peak overpressure testing and scanning electron microscope.Results showed that an increase of both the fireball temperature and air shock wave were observed in all RM casings compared to conventional 2A12 aluminum ally casings.The RM casings can improve the peak overpressure of the air shock wave under explosion loading,though the results are different with different charge ratios.According to the energy release characteristics of the RM,increasing the thickness of RM casings will increase the peak overpressure of the near-field air shock wave,while reducing the thickness will increase the peak overpressure of the far-field air shock wave.展开更多
Non-cylindrical casings filled with explosives have undergone rapid development in warhead design and explosion control.The fragment spatial distribution of prismatic casings is more complex than that of traditional c...Non-cylindrical casings filled with explosives have undergone rapid development in warhead design and explosion control.The fragment spatial distribution of prismatic casings is more complex than that of traditional cylindrical casings.In this study,numerical and experimental investigations into the fragment spatial distribution of a prismatic casing were conducted.A new numerical method,which adds the Lagrangian marker points to the Eulerian grid,was proposed to track the multi-material interfaces and material dynamic fractures.Physical quantity mappings between the Lagrangian marker points and Eulerian grid were achieved by their topological relationship.Thereafter,the fragment spatial distributions of the prismatic casing with different fragment sizes,fragment shapes,and casing geometries were obtained using the numerical method.Moreover,fragment spatial distribution experiments were conducted on the prismatic casing with different fragment sizes and shapes,and the experimental data were compared with the numerical results.The effects of the fragment and casing geometry on the fragment spatial distributions were determined by analyzing the numerical results and experimental data.Finally,a formula including the casing geometry parameters was fitted to predict the fragment spatial distribution of the prismatic casing under internal explosive loading.展开更多
The double casing warhead with sandwiched charge is a novel fragmentation warhead that can produce two groups of fragments with different velocity,and the previous work has presented a calculation formula to determine...The double casing warhead with sandwiched charge is a novel fragmentation warhead that can produce two groups of fragments with different velocity,and the previous work has presented a calculation formula to determine the maximum fragment velocity.The current work builds on the published formula to further develop a formula for calculating the axial distribution characteristics of the fragment velocity.For this type of warhead,the simulation of the dispersion characteristics of the detonation products at different positions shows that the detonation products at the ends have a much larger axial velocity than those in the middle,and the detonation products have a greater axial dispersion velocity when they are closer to the central axis.The loading process and the fragment velocity vary with the axial position for both casing layers,and the total velocity of the fragments is the vector sum of the radial velocity and the axial velocity.At the same axial position,the acceleration time of the inner casing is greater than that of the outer casing.For the same casing,the fragments generated at the ends have a longer acceleration time than the fragments from the middle.The proposed formula is validated with the X-ray radiography results of the four warheads previously tested experimentally and the 3D smoothedparticle hydrodynamics numerical simulation results of several series of new warheads with different configurations.The formula can accurately and reliably calculate the fragment velocity when the lengthto-diameter ratio of the charge is greater than 1.5 and the thickness of the casing is less than 20%its inner radius.This work thus provides a key reference for the theoretical analysis and the design of warheads with multiple casings.展开更多
As the basic protective element, steel plate had attracted world-wide attention because of frequent threats of explosive loads. This paper reports the relationships between microscopic defects of Q345 steel plate unde...As the basic protective element, steel plate had attracted world-wide attention because of frequent threats of explosive loads. This paper reports the relationships between microscopic defects of Q345 steel plate under the explosive load and its macroscopic dynamics simulation. Firstly, the defect characteristics of the steel plate were investigated by stereoscopic microscope(SM) and scanning electron microscope(SEM). At the macroscopic level, the defect was the formation of cave which was concentrated in the range of 0-3.0 cm from the explosion center, while at the microscopic level, the cavity and void formation were the typical damage characteristics. It also explains that the difference in defect morphology at different positions was the combining results of high temperature and high pressure. Secondly, the variation rules of mechanical properties of steel plate under explosive load were studied. The Arbitrary Lagrange-Euler(ALE) algorithm and multi-material fluid-structure coupling method were used to simulate the explosion process of steel plate. The accuracy of the method was verified by comparing the deformation of the simulation results with the experimental results, the pressure and stress at different positions on the surface of the steel plate were obtained. The simulation results indicated that the critical pressure causing the plate defects may be approximately 2.01 GPa. On this basis, it was found that the variation rules of surface pressure and microscopic defect area of the Q345 steel plate were strikingly similar, and the corresponding mathematical relationship between them was established. Compared with Monomolecular growth fitting models(MGFM) and Logistic fitting models(LFM), the relationship can be better expressed by cubic polynomial fitting model(CPFM). This paper illustrated that the explosive defect characteristics of metal plate at the microscopic level can be explored by analyzing its macroscopic dynamic mechanical response.展开更多
As the protective component,steel plate had attracted extensive attention because of frequently threats of explosive loads.In this paper,the evolution of microstructure and the mechanism of damage in the quasi-crackin...As the protective component,steel plate had attracted extensive attention because of frequently threats of explosive loads.In this paper,the evolution of microstructure and the mechanism of damage in the quasi-cracking area of steel plate subjected to explosive load were discussed and the relationships between micro defects and dynamic mechanical response were revealed.After the explosion experiment,five observation points were selected equidistant from the quasi-cracking area of the section of the steel plate along the thickness direction,and the characteristics of micro defects at the observation points were analyzed by optical microscope(OM),scanning electron microscope(SEM) and electron backscattered diffraction(EBSD).The observation result shows that many slip bands(SBs) appeared,and the grain orientation changed obviously in the steel plate,the two were the main damage types of micro defects.In addition,cracks,peeling pits,grooves and other lager micro defects were appeared in the lower area of the plate.The stress parameters of the observation points were obtained through an effective numerical model.The mechanism of damage generation and crack propagation in the quasicracking area were clarified by comparing the specific impulse of each observation point with the corresponding micro defects.The result shows that the generation and expansion of micro defects are related to the stress area(i.e.the upper compression area,the neutral plane area,and the lower tension area).The micro defects gather and expand at the grain boundary,and will become macroscopic damage under the continuous action of tensile stress.Besides,the micro defects at the midpoint of the section of the steel plate in the direction away from the explosion center(i.e.the horizontal direction) were also studied.It was found that the specific impulse at these positions were much smaller than that in the thickness direction,the micro defects were only SBs and a few micro cracks,and the those decreased with the increase of the distance from the explosion center.展开更多
基金the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province(Grant No.BK20200494)China Postdoctoral Science Foundation(Grant No.2021M701725)+3 种基金Jiangsu Postdoctoral Research Funding Program(Grant No.2021K522C)Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities(Grant No.30919011246)National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant No.52278188)Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province(Grant No.BK20211196)。
文摘To study the anti-explosion protection effect of polyurea coating on reinforced concrete box girder,two segmental girder specimens were made at a scale of 1:3,numbered as G(without polyurea coating)and PCG(with polyurea coating).The failure characteristics and dynamic responses of the specimens were compared through conducting explosion tests.The reliability of the numerical simulation using LS-DYNA software was verified by the test results.The effects of different scaled distances,reinforcement ratios,concrete strengths,coating thicknesses and ranges of polyurea were studied.The results show that the polyurea coating can effectively enhance the anti-explosion performance of the girder.The top plate of middle chamber in specimen G forms an elliptical penetrating hole,while that in specimen PCG only shows a very slight local dent.The peak vertical displacement and residual displacement of PCG decrease by 74.8% and 73.7%,respectively,compared with those of specimen G.For the TNT explosion with small equivalent,the polyurea coating has a more significant protective effect on reducing the size of fracture.With the increase of TNT equivalent,the protective effect of polyurea on reducing girder displacement becomes more significant.The optimal reinforcement ratio,concrete strength,thickness and range of polyurea coating were also drawn.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No.12302437)Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province (BK20230939)China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (2021M701710)。
文摘This paper investigates the three-dimensional crack propagation and damage evolution process of metallic column shells under internal explosive loading.The calibration of four typical failure parameters for 40CrMnSiB steel was conducted through experiments and subsequently applied to simulations.The numerical simulation results employing the four failure criteria were compared with the differences and similarities observed in freeze-recovery tests and ultra-high-speed tests.This analysis addressed the critical issue of determining failure criteria for the fracture of a metal shell under internal explosive loads.Building upon this foundation,the damage parameter D_(c),linked to the cumulative crack density,was defined based on the evolution characteristics of a substantial number of cracks.The relationship between the damage parameter and crack velocity over time was established,and the influence of the internal central pressure on the damage parameter and crack velocity was investigated.Variations in the fracture modes were found under different failure criteria,with the principal strain failure criterion proving to be the most effective for simulating 3D crack propagation in a pure shear fracture mode.Through statistical analysis of the shell penetration fracture radius data,it was determined that the fracture radius remained essentially constant during the crack evolution process and could be considered a constant.The propagation velocity of axial cracks ranged between 5300 m/s and 12600 m/s,surpassing the Rayleigh wave velocity of the shell material and decreasing linearly with time.The increase in shell damage exhibited an initial rapid phase,followed by deceleration,demonstrating accelerated damage during the propagation stage of the blast wave and decelerated damage after the arrival of the rarefaction wave.This study provides an effective approach for investigating crack propagation and damage evolution.The derived crack propagation and damage evolution law serves as a valuable reference for the development of crack velocity theory and the construction of shell damage evolution modes.
文摘Instrumented experiments were conducted in concrete models to study the explosion-induced radial strain and fracture effect of rock-like media under confined explosion with a charge of cyclonite. As a charge was exploded, two different radial strain waves were sequentially recorded by a strain gage at a distance of 80 mm from the center of charge. Through the attenuation formula of the maximum compressive strain(εrmax), the distribution of εrmax and its strain rate( ) between the charge and gage were obtained. The effect of the two waves propagating outwards on the radial fracture of surrounding media was discussed. The results show that the two waves are pertinent to the loading of shock energy (Es) and bubble energy (Eb) against concrete surrounding charge, respectively. The former wave lasts for much shorter time than the latter. The peak values of εrmax and of the former are higher than those of the latter, respectively.
基金financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant Nos.52378401,12202494)the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities(Grant No.30922010918)。
文摘The compression and energy absorption properties of foam geopolymers increase stress wave attenuation under explosion impacts,reducing the vibration effect on the structure.Explosion tests were conducted using several composite structure models,including a concrete lining structure(CLS)without foam geopolymer and six foam geopolymer composite structures(FGCS)with different backfill parameters,to study the dynamic response and wave dissipation mechanisms of FGCS under explosive loading.Pressure,strain,and vibration responses at different locations were synchronously tested.The damage modes and dynamic responses of different models were compared,and how wave elimination and energy absorption efficiencies were affected by foam geopolymer backfill parameters was analyzed.The results showed that the foam geopolymer absorbed and dissipated the impact energy through continuous compressive deformation under high strain rates and dynamic loading,reducing the strain in the liner structure by 52%and increasing the pressure attenuation rate by 28%.Additionally,the foam geopolymer backfill reduced structural vibration and liner deformation,with the FGCS structure showing 35%less displacement and 70%less acceleration compared to the CLS.The FGCS model with thicker,less dense foam geopolymer backfill,having more pores and higher porosity,demonstrated better compression and energy absorption under dynamic impact,increasing stress wave attenuation efficiency.By analyzing the stress wave propagation and the compression characteristics of the porous medium,it was concluded that the stress transfer ratio of FGCS-ρ-579 was 77%lower than that of CLS,and the transmitted wave energy was 90%lower.The results of this study provide a scientific basis for optimizing underground composite structure interlayer parameters.
基金the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities(No.30920021108)Open Foundation of Hypervelocity Impact Research Center of CARDC(20200106).
文摘Reactive Materials(RMs),a new material with structural and energy release characteristics under shockinduced chemical reactions,are promising in extensive applications in national defense and military fields.They can increase the lethality of warheads due to their dual functionality.This paper focuses on the energy release characteristics of RM casings prepared by alloy melting and casting process under explosive loading.Explosion experiments of RM and conventional 2A12 aluminum alloy casings were conducted in free field to capture the explosive fireballs,temperature distribution,peak overpressure of the air shock wave and the fracture morphology of fragments of reactive material(RM)warhead casings by using high-speed camera,infrared thermal imager temperature and peak overpressure testing and scanning electron microscope.Results showed that an increase of both the fireball temperature and air shock wave were observed in all RM casings compared to conventional 2A12 aluminum ally casings.The RM casings can improve the peak overpressure of the air shock wave under explosion loading,though the results are different with different charge ratios.According to the energy release characteristics of the RM,increasing the thickness of RM casings will increase the peak overpressure of the near-field air shock wave,while reducing the thickness will increase the peak overpressure of the far-field air shock wave.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant No.11822203and 11702026)。
文摘Non-cylindrical casings filled with explosives have undergone rapid development in warhead design and explosion control.The fragment spatial distribution of prismatic casings is more complex than that of traditional cylindrical casings.In this study,numerical and experimental investigations into the fragment spatial distribution of a prismatic casing were conducted.A new numerical method,which adds the Lagrangian marker points to the Eulerian grid,was proposed to track the multi-material interfaces and material dynamic fractures.Physical quantity mappings between the Lagrangian marker points and Eulerian grid were achieved by their topological relationship.Thereafter,the fragment spatial distributions of the prismatic casing with different fragment sizes,fragment shapes,and casing geometries were obtained using the numerical method.Moreover,fragment spatial distribution experiments were conducted on the prismatic casing with different fragment sizes and shapes,and the experimental data were compared with the numerical results.The effects of the fragment and casing geometry on the fragment spatial distributions were determined by analyzing the numerical results and experimental data.Finally,a formula including the casing geometry parameters was fitted to predict the fragment spatial distribution of the prismatic casing under internal explosive loading.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant No.11872121)。
文摘The double casing warhead with sandwiched charge is a novel fragmentation warhead that can produce two groups of fragments with different velocity,and the previous work has presented a calculation formula to determine the maximum fragment velocity.The current work builds on the published formula to further develop a formula for calculating the axial distribution characteristics of the fragment velocity.For this type of warhead,the simulation of the dispersion characteristics of the detonation products at different positions shows that the detonation products at the ends have a much larger axial velocity than those in the middle,and the detonation products have a greater axial dispersion velocity when they are closer to the central axis.The loading process and the fragment velocity vary with the axial position for both casing layers,and the total velocity of the fragments is the vector sum of the radial velocity and the axial velocity.At the same axial position,the acceleration time of the inner casing is greater than that of the outer casing.For the same casing,the fragments generated at the ends have a longer acceleration time than the fragments from the middle.The proposed formula is validated with the X-ray radiography results of the four warheads previously tested experimentally and the 3D smoothedparticle hydrodynamics numerical simulation results of several series of new warheads with different configurations.The formula can accurately and reliably calculate the fragment velocity when the lengthto-diameter ratio of the charge is greater than 1.5 and the thickness of the casing is less than 20%its inner radius.This work thus provides a key reference for the theoretical analysis and the design of warheads with multiple casings.
基金Science and Technology Project of Fire Rescue Bureau of Ministry of Emergency Management(Grant No.2022XFZD05)S&T Program of Hebei(Grant No.22375419D)National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant No.11802160).
文摘As the basic protective element, steel plate had attracted world-wide attention because of frequent threats of explosive loads. This paper reports the relationships between microscopic defects of Q345 steel plate under the explosive load and its macroscopic dynamics simulation. Firstly, the defect characteristics of the steel plate were investigated by stereoscopic microscope(SM) and scanning electron microscope(SEM). At the macroscopic level, the defect was the formation of cave which was concentrated in the range of 0-3.0 cm from the explosion center, while at the microscopic level, the cavity and void formation were the typical damage characteristics. It also explains that the difference in defect morphology at different positions was the combining results of high temperature and high pressure. Secondly, the variation rules of mechanical properties of steel plate under explosive load were studied. The Arbitrary Lagrange-Euler(ALE) algorithm and multi-material fluid-structure coupling method were used to simulate the explosion process of steel plate. The accuracy of the method was verified by comparing the deformation of the simulation results with the experimental results, the pressure and stress at different positions on the surface of the steel plate were obtained. The simulation results indicated that the critical pressure causing the plate defects may be approximately 2.01 GPa. On this basis, it was found that the variation rules of surface pressure and microscopic defect area of the Q345 steel plate were strikingly similar, and the corresponding mathematical relationship between them was established. Compared with Monomolecular growth fitting models(MGFM) and Logistic fitting models(LFM), the relationship can be better expressed by cubic polynomial fitting model(CPFM). This paper illustrated that the explosive defect characteristics of metal plate at the microscopic level can be explored by analyzing its macroscopic dynamic mechanical response.
基金supported by the Science and Technology Project of Fire Rescue Bureau of Ministry of Emergency Management (Grant No.2022XFZD05)S&T Program of Hebei(Grant No.22375419D)National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No.11802160)。
文摘As the protective component,steel plate had attracted extensive attention because of frequently threats of explosive loads.In this paper,the evolution of microstructure and the mechanism of damage in the quasi-cracking area of steel plate subjected to explosive load were discussed and the relationships between micro defects and dynamic mechanical response were revealed.After the explosion experiment,five observation points were selected equidistant from the quasi-cracking area of the section of the steel plate along the thickness direction,and the characteristics of micro defects at the observation points were analyzed by optical microscope(OM),scanning electron microscope(SEM) and electron backscattered diffraction(EBSD).The observation result shows that many slip bands(SBs) appeared,and the grain orientation changed obviously in the steel plate,the two were the main damage types of micro defects.In addition,cracks,peeling pits,grooves and other lager micro defects were appeared in the lower area of the plate.The stress parameters of the observation points were obtained through an effective numerical model.The mechanism of damage generation and crack propagation in the quasicracking area were clarified by comparing the specific impulse of each observation point with the corresponding micro defects.The result shows that the generation and expansion of micro defects are related to the stress area(i.e.the upper compression area,the neutral plane area,and the lower tension area).The micro defects gather and expand at the grain boundary,and will become macroscopic damage under the continuous action of tensile stress.Besides,the micro defects at the midpoint of the section of the steel plate in the direction away from the explosion center(i.e.the horizontal direction) were also studied.It was found that the specific impulse at these positions were much smaller than that in the thickness direction,the micro defects were only SBs and a few micro cracks,and the those decreased with the increase of the distance from the explosion center.