Evaluating the performance of ceramic/fabric composite panels against simultaneous steel projectile impacts: An experimental and numerical study

Abstract

In order to evaluate the ballistic performance of ceramic/fabric composite panels developed using 99.5 % alumina, Kevlar® and carbon fiber fabrics; a series of experiments were performed on the physical samples. The composite-projectile interaction was investigated in detail by means of finite element analysis using LS-DYNA®. The validated numerical model of the ceramic/fabric composite system was tactically modified to investigate the composite/projectile interaction for simultaneous projectile impacts at different impact velocities. The numerical model predicted the failure mechanism of the composite panel and the exit velocity of the projectile piercing through the composite accurately. This study reveals the important aspects of ballistic impact on composites under simultaneous multiple projectile impact condition which in turn, is a much more complex and critical case as compared to sequential multiple projectile impacts.

Keywords

• Ballistic impact
• LS-DYNA®
• Ceramic/fabric composite
• Simultaneous impact
• Alumina
• Kevlar®