COMPUTATIONAL BALLISTIC IMPACT ANALYSIS OF AIRCRAFT ARMORS

Abstract

Lightweight and ballistic resistance are significant parameters in the design of aircraft armors. Aircraft should not compromise the payload or its maneuverability due to the armors added to the system. In addition to this, the aircraft has to sustain high ballistic resistance under enemy fire. In the design of aircraft armors choosing light and high strength materials that respond to these demands ballistic impact resistant concepts are being developed. In this study numerical simulation of ballistic impact is carried out for the aircraft armors. The ballistic impact response of the fiber reinforced composite armor is computed using forward finite difference method. Cylindrical rigid projectile hitting the woven crimp composite fabric at an angle 90° is analyzed. The yarn segments between hinged joints at crossovers are modeled using discrete mass-spring-damper in pin-joint systems consisting of planar square lattices. After a certain time of impact; displacement of the fabric, change in the velocities and the failure in the material is computed and depicted graphically. The effect of crimp and slip viscosity on the ballistic performance of the fabric is examined and discussed.

Keywords

• Aircraft armors
• fiber reinforced composite armors
• cylindrical projectile
• ballistic performance
• forward finite difference method