Abstract
The development of armour systems with higher ballistic resistance and light weight has gained considerable attention as an increasing number of countries are recognising the need to build up advanced self-defence system to deter potential military conflicts and threats. Graphene is a two dimensional one-atom thick nanomaterial which possesses excellent tensile strength (130 GPa) and specific penetration energy (10 times higher than steel). It is also lightweight, tough and stiff and is expected to replace the current aramid fibre-based polymer composites. Currently, insights derived from the study of the nacre (natural armour system) are finding applications on the development of artificial nacre structures using graphene-based materials that can achieve high toughness and energy dissipation. The aim of this review is to discuss the potential of graphene-based nanomaterials with regard to the penetration energy, toughness and ballistic limit for personal body armour applications. This review addresses the cutting-edge research in the ballistic performance of graphene-based materials through theoretical, experimentation as well as simulations. The influence of fabrication techniques and interfacial interactions of graphene-based bioinspired polymer composites for ballistic application are also discussed. This review also covers the artificial nacre which is shown to exhibit superior mechanical and toughness behaviours.
Highlights
Ballistic impact produces shock waves which may induce severe trauma injuries to the soldiers
The results have proven that the strain energy density of graphene is much higher than other materials
Due to increase in demand for flexible, light weight and robust body armour it is essential to find an alternative for the current aramid fibre-based protection system
Summary
Ballistic impact produces shock waves which may induce severe trauma injuries to the soldiers. These plant fibres were hybridized with aramid fibres to produce sustainable composites for body amour [7]. Further enhancing the energy absorption and to achieving higher energy dissipation, nano fillers are incorporated in the polymer matrix such as graphene-based fillers, carbon nanotube (CNT) etc These nanomaterials had higher strength, stiffness, light weight, higher energy absorption and resistance to fracture makes them a most promising and potential materials for ballistic applications [11,12,13,14,15,16,17]. The failure strain of graphene (0.25–0.30) is much higher than the conventional fibril armours (0.04) These superior properties of graphene and graphene-based nanocomposites significantly enhance the ballistic resistance and energy absorption compared to the aramid fibre-based composites. The effect of fabrication techniques and interfacial interactions of graphene-based nacre-inspired polymer composites for ballistic application have been discussed in detail
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