Home Ballistic tests of lightweight hybrid composites for body armor
Article
Licensed
Unlicensed Requires Authentication

Ballistic tests of lightweight hybrid composites for body armor

  • Cenk Yanen and Murat Yavuz Solmaz
Published/Copyright: April 30, 2019
Become an author with De Gruyter Brill

Abstract

In the research for this contribution, the use of layered hybrid composites as materials for ballistic armor has been tested. As part of the study, ballistic tests of glass/aramid/carbon fiber laminated comp osite plates at different reinforcing angles, in various numbers and thicknesses were carried out and the results analyzed. Eight hybrid composite laminates, of various thicknesses 200 × 200 mm in size were produced by the hand lay-up method at angles of 0°, +/−45°. Plain and twill fabrics were used to analyze the ballistic performances at various fiber reinforcing angles. Ballistic tests were carried out at the Elazig Special Operation Branch Office, using a Beretta gun loaded with 9 mm FMJ (full metal jacket) bullets. These experiments with ballistic test equipment were conducted in accordance with international standards. During the ballistic experiments, the velocity and BFS (backface signature) was measured and evaluated. Test results suggest that five samples were successful according to NIJ 0101-06 standards. It was found that twill woven (TW) fabrics made for the study manifest a higher ballistic performance than plain-woven (PW) fabrics. UD (unidirectional), +/−45° UD fabrics were found to be more effective than 0° UD fabrics. The findings are indicative for the design of lightweight ballistic armor material.


Correspondence Address, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Murat Yavuz Solmaz, Department of Mechanics, Faculty of Engineering, Firat University, 23119, Elazig, Turkey, E-mail: ,

Cenk Yanen received a BSc degree in Mechanical Engineering from Mersin University in 2010 and an MSc degree from Firat University in 2016. He is currently working on his PhD degree at Firat University. His research interests include mechanic, composite material. He is Research Assistant at the Department of Mechanical Engineering of Firat University, Elazig, Turkey.

Assoc. Prof. Murat Yavuz Solmaz received his BSc degree in Mechanical Engineering, MSc degree and PhD from Firat University in 1997, 2003 and 2008, respectively. His research interests include mechanics of solid material and composite material. He is Associate Professor at the Department of Mechanical Engineering of Firat University, Elazig, Turkey.


References

1 A. R.Othman, M. H.Hassan: Effect of different construction designs of aramid fabric on the ballistic performances, Materials and Design44 (2013), pp. 40741310.1016/j.matdes.2012.07.061Search in Google Scholar

2 J. G.Carrillo, R. A.Gamboa, E. A.Flores-Johnson, P. I.Gonzalez-Chi: Ballistic performance of thermoplastic composite laminates made from aramid woven fabric and polypropylene matrix, Polymer Testing31 (2012), No. 4, pp. 51251910.1016/j.polymertesting.2012.02.010Search in Google Scholar

3 S.Temiz: An Investigation about Ballistic Fabrics and Test Methods, Master Thesis, Dokuz Eylül University, Institute of Science, Engineering Faculty, Department of Textile Engineering, İzmir, Turkey (2005)Search in Google Scholar

4 N.Nayak, A.Banerjee, A. L.Dutta: Ballistic performance of laminated composites against military impactors: experimental and numerical studies, Proc. of DYMAT – 9th Int. Conf. Mech. Phys. Behav. Mater under Dyn. Load., France (2009), pp. 1761176610.1051/dymat/2009248Search in Google Scholar

5 R. A. W.Mines, A. M.Roach, N.Jones: High-velocity behavior of polymer composite laminates, International Journal of Impact Engineering22 (1999), No. 6, pp. 56158810.1016/S0734-743X(99)00019-6Search in Google Scholar

6 K. S.Pandya, J. R.Pothnis, G.Ravikumar, N. K.Naik: Ballistic impact behavior of hybrid composites, Materials and Design44 (2013), pp. 12813510.1016/j.matdes.2012.07.044Search in Google Scholar

7 T. W.Shyr, Y. H.Pan: Impact resistance and damage characteristics of composite laminates, Composite Structures62 (2003), No. 2, pp. 19320310.1016/S0263-8223(03)00114-4Search in Google Scholar

8 R.Yahaya, S. M.Sapuan, M.Jawaid, Z.Leman, E. S.Zainudin: Measurement of ballistic impact properties of woven kenaf-aramid hybrid composites, Measurement77 (2016), pp. 33534310.1016/j.measurement.2015.09.016Search in Google Scholar

9 W. A.de Morais, S. N.Monteiro, J. R. M.d’Almeida: Effect of the laminate thickness on the composite strength to repeated low energy impacts, Composite Structures70 (2005), No. 2, pp. 22322810.1016/j.compstruct.2004.08.024Search in Google Scholar

10 C.Atas, B. M.Icten, M.Kucuk: Thickness effect on repeated impact response of woven fabric composite plates, Composite Part B: Engineering49 (2013), pp. 808510.1016/j.compositesb.2013.01.019Search in Google Scholar

11 R. C.Laible, M. R.Denommee: Laminates for ballistic protection, National Technical Information Service U. S. Department of Commerce (1975), pp. 1910.21236/ADA008020Search in Google Scholar

12 R. A.Prosser: Penetration of nylon ballistic panels by fragment simulating projectiles. Part I: A linear approximation to the relationship between the V50 or Vc striking velocity and the number of layer of cloth in the ballistic panel, Textile Research Journal58 (1988), No. 2, pp. 618510.1177/004051758805800201Search in Google Scholar

13 J. E.Field, Q.Sun: High-speed photographic study of the impact on fibers and woven fabrics, Peter W. W.Fuller (Eds.): Proc. of the 19th International Congress on High-Speed Photograph and Photonics, Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers, Cambridge, United Kingdom (1991) 10.1117/12.23993Search in Google Scholar

14 D. L.Starratt: An Instrumented Experimental Study of the Ballistic Response of Textile Materials, MSc Thesis, University of British Columbia, Applied Science, Faculty of Materials Engineering, Department of Materials Engineering, Vancouver, Canada (1998) 10.14288/1.0078506Search in Google Scholar

15 S.Min, X.Chen, Y.Chai, T.Lowe: Effect of reinforcement continuity on the ballistic performance of composites reinforced with multiple plain weave fabric, Composites Part B90 (2016), pp. 303610.1016/j.compositesb.2015.12.001Search in Google Scholar

16 P.Kedzierski, R.Gieleta, A.Morka, T.Niezgoda, Z.Surma: Experimental study of hybrid soft ballistic structures, Composites Structures153 (2016), pp. 20421110.1016/j.compstruct.2016.06.006Search in Google Scholar

17 E. E.Haro, A. G.Odeshi, J. A.Szpunar: The energy absorption behavior of hybrid composite laminates containing nano-fillers under ballistic impact, International Journal of Impact Engineering96 (2016), pp. 112210.1016/j.ijimpeng.2016.05.012Search in Google Scholar

18 R.Munoz, F.Martinez-Hergueta, F.Galvez, C.Gonzalez, J.Llorca: Ballistic performance of hybrid 3D woven composites: Experiment and simulations, Composite Structure127 (2015), pp. 14115110.1016/j.compstruct.2015.03.021Search in Google Scholar

19 C.Yanen, M. Y.Solmaz: Production and experimental investigation of ballistic performance of laminated hybrid composites, Fourth International Conference on Advances in Mechanical and Automation Engineering, Institute of Research Engineers and Doctors, Italy, (2016), pp. 323610.15224/978-1-63248-102-3-46Search in Google Scholar

20 C.Yanen, M. Y.Solmaz: Investigation of ballistic performance of laminated hybrid composites, IgorZolotarev, VojtěchRadolf (Eds.): Proc. of the 22nd International Conference on Engineering Mechanics, Institute of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Svratka, Czech Republic (2016), pp. 590593Search in Google Scholar

21 NIJ Standard 0101.06: Ballistic Resistance of Personal Body Armor, US Department of Justice, USA (2018).Search in Google Scholar

Published Online: 2019-04-30
Published in Print: 2019-05-02

© 2019, Carl Hanser Verlag, München

Downloaded on 9.9.2025 from https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.3139/120.111336/html?lang=en
Scroll to top button