Impact of a Projectile on Fabrics – An Experimental Test Method

Abstract

Fabric manufacturers are striving to produce value-added, high-end technical fabrics, such as smart textiles, protective clothing and accessories for sports, where the performance of the fabric has become a decisive factor. Fabric impact resistance is one such property of importance. Therefore the development of a suitable method to predict the impact on the fabric at the point of fabric development is of great importance. In this article, the authors have attempted to design and develop a test method to predict fabric impact more accurately. A mathematical model has been developed to show the relationship between impact force, impact velocity and the depth of penetration on impact. Finally, test equipment has been developed to measure the impact based on the developed model. The indentation depth on impact was measured against both impact velocity and kinetic energy, and the experimental impact force was calculated against the impact velocity. It was found that the impact velocity of the projectile affects both the impact on fabric and indentation into the backing material as well as the energy absorbed by the fabric. The energy absorption also increased with impact velocity and higher velocities caused greater damage. No great variation in temperature was detected.

Keywords

• projectile force
• woven fabric
• fabric impact resistance
• impact velocity
• penetration