Ballistic Impact Study on Jute-Epoxy and Natural Rubber Sandwich Composites

Abstract

Since ages, human beings have used different methods to protect themselves and their armors from the impact of bullets/projectiles by using structures made up of wood, metals, glass and sand bags etc. These protective structures are heavy and incur cost and inconvenience to transport. Of late, they are replaced by structures of polymers and their composites, because of their light weight and good corrosion resistance. Ballistic impact analysis of composite materials is necessary in order to establish their use in military, aerospace and automotive applications either through experimental studies or using modeling techniques. The aim of the present investigation is to model and analyze the behavior of composites for ballistic impact. Residual velocity, energy absorption and ballistic limit for three different materials Jute-Epoxy (JE), Rubber (Ru), Jute-Epoxy-Rubber sandwich (JRE) for three thicknesses (5, 10, 15mm) and at three velocities (150, 250, 350 m/s) is studied. The study exhibits a significant amount of energy absorption in rubber, almost 10 times as compared to JE plate. Also damage observed was ductile in the case of rubber, while brittle in JE. Sandwich composites (JRE) displayed energy absorption and ballistic limit on par with rubber plates. Thus the applicability of these sandwiches in ballistic impact is established as better energy absorbing protective target structures.