On the Use of Adaptive Mesh Refinement for Modelling the Taylor Impact Test with the CEL Formulation

This paper examines the use of adaptive mesh refinement in Coupled Eulerian-Lagrangian (CEL) finite element modeling of the Taylor impact test. Traditional Lagrangian models suffer from severe mesh distortion under large strains, while CEL avoids this issue but requires much longer computation times. Using Abaqus/Explicit 2025, a mesh convergence study was performed to identify an accurate reference mesh. Adaptive mesh refinement was then applied to refine the mesh dynamically based on equivalent plastic strain. Results show that CEL models achieve convergence, unlike Lagrangian models, and that adaptive mesh refinement reduces computation time by up to 67%, with minimal impact on accuracy. This approach provides an efficient and reliable solution for high-strain simulations.