Influence-of-fabric-structure-and-thickness

InfluenceoffabricstructureandthicknessontheballisticimpactbehaviorofUltrahighmolecularweightpolyethylenecompositelaminateDiantangZhanga,YingSuna,⇑,LiChena,SanliangZhangb,NingPana,caKeyLaboratoryofAdvancedTextileComposites,MinistryofEducation,TianjinPolytechnicUniversity,Tianjin300387,ChinabBiologicalandAgriculturalEngineering,UniversityofCalifornia,Davis,CA95616,UnitedStatescDivisionofTextilesandClothing,UniversityofCalifornia,Davis,CA95616,UnitedStatesarticleinfoArticlehistory:Received20June2013Accepted20August2013Availableonline29August2013Keywords:BallisticbehaviorCompositelaminatesUltrahighmolecularweightpolyethyleneSingle-ply3DorthogonalwovenfabricabstractThispaperpresentstheinfluenceoffabricstructureandthicknessontheballisticimpactbehaviorofUltrahighmolecularweightpolyethylene(UHMWPE)compositelaminate.UHMWPEcompositelami-nates,reinforcedbythreekindsoffabricstructures,unidirectionalprepreg,2Dplain-wovenand3Dsin-gle-plyorthogonalwovenfabrics,werefabricatedviahotpressingcuringprocess.Throughaseriesofstandardballistictests,wedemonstratedthatunidirectionalcompositelaminatesexhibithigherballisticimpactvelocityandabsorbedenergycapacitycomparedtoothers.Abi-linearrelationshipwasfoundbetweentheballisticlimitvelocityandspecimenthickness.Furthermore,thedominantfailuremecha-nismsofunidirectionalcompositelaminateswereidentifiedtobepluggingandholefrictionforthinlam-inates,whereasdelamination,fibertensionandbulgingforthickones.2013ElsevierLtd.Allrightsreserved.1.IntroductionTextilestructuralcompositelaminateshavebeenincreasinglyincorporatedintomilitarypersonnelarmorsystemowingtotheirhighstrengthand/orstiffnesstoweightratio,andgooddamagetolerance.Vianewmaterialsandnovelweavesrecentlydeveloped,textilestructurallaminateswithdecreasedweightcanalsobecon-structedtooffercomparablemechanicalstrengthandthenprovidedesirableprotectioncapabilityagainstballisticthreats.Subse-quently,amajorityofexperimentalandtheoreticalinvestigationshavebeencarriedoutfocusingonmaterialresponses,penetrationfailuremechanismsaswellasenergyabsorptionunderballisticimpactloading[1–6].Asthematerialsareoptimizedwithcurrenttechnology,therefore,theinfluencesoffabricarchitectureandthicknessonthestructuralresponseandfailuremechanismsoftheas-constructedlaminatesneedtobefurtherstudiedforabetterunderstandingoflightweightarmorsystem.Numerouspublicationshavebeenreportedontheballisticim-pactbehaviorsofcompositelaminatesreinforcedwithdifferentfabricarchitectures.Leeetal.[7]examinedthefailuremodesofSpectrapolyethylenefiberreinforcedcompositesanddemon-stratedthatbothangle-pliedunidirectionalandwovenfabricrein-forcedcompositesexhibitsequentialdelamination,shear-pluggingandcombinedmodesofshearandtensilefailureoffibers.Theyalsoconcludedthatangle-pliedunidirectionalcompositesshowhigherballisticlimit.NaikandShrirao[8]investigatedtheballisticimpactbehaviorsofplainweaveE-glass/epoxyandtwillweaveT300carbon/epoxycompositesandobservedthatballisticlimitishigherforplainweavecomposites.Sabetetal.[9]conducteddetailedinvestigationsoftheballisticresponsesofglass/polyesterresincompositeswithdifferenttypesofreinforcementsuchaschoppedstrandmat,plainweave,satinweave,unidirectionalandcross-plyunidirectionalatimpactvelocitiesthatrangedfrom80m/sto160m/s.Theyfoundthatcross-plyunidirectionalandplainweavecompositesofferbetterballisticresistanceatathick-nessof3mmand6mm.Theyalsonotedthatfibertensionandshearfailurearethedominantfailuremodesfor3mmcomposites,whileseveredelaminationfor6mmcomposites.Chuetal.[10]discussedtheballisticresistancebehaviorofbasket22fabricaramidcompositesexperiencingtheobliqueimpact.Theexperi-mentsshowedthatbasketweavecompositescancauselessrico-chetthanthatofplainweavecomposites.Flanaganetal.[11]studiedtheperforationbehaviorsofcompositesreinforcedwithfabricsoffourkindsofarchitectures,two-andthree-dimensionalwoven,three-dimensionalbraided,needle-punchednonwovenfabric,atimpactvelocitiesfrom200to1100m/s.Theyfoundthatthree-dimensionalbraidedcompositeshavethehighestpenetra-tionresistanceandstructuralintegrityafterimpactincomparisonwithotherreinforcements.Guetal.[12–15]developedfinite0261-3069/$-seefrontmatter2013ElsevierLtd.Allrightsreserved.⇑Correspondingauthor.Tel.:[phone];fax:[phone].E-mailaddress:[e-mail](Y.Sun).MaterialsandDesign54(2014)315–322ContentslistsavailableatScienceDirectMaterialsandDesignjournalhomepage:[16]investigatedthefailuremodesofwoven,z-stitchedandthrough-thicknessz-stitchedglass/polyestercompositesforthevelocitiesofupto571m/sandconcludedthatalltypesofconstructionbehaveinasimilarmanner.Hosuretal.[17]studiedtheimpactperformanceofstitched/unstitchedwovencompositesatavelocityrangefrom46m/sto275m/s.Resultsshowedthatunstitchedcompo