Composites with Natural Fibers and Conventional Materials Applied in a Hard Armor: A Comparison.

Fernanda Luz,Michelle Oliveira,Sergio Monteiro,Fabio Garcia Filho,Lucio Nascimento

doi:10.3390/polym12091920

Abstract

Natural-fiber-reinforced polymer composites have recently drawn attention as new materials for ballistic armor due to sustainability benefits and lower cost as compared to conventional synthetic fibers, such as aramid and ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene (UHMWPE). In the present work, a comparison was carried out between the ballistic performance of UHMWPE composite, commercially known as Dyneema, and epoxy composite reinforced with 30 vol % natural fibers extracted from pineapple leaves (PALF) in a hard armor system. This hard armor system aims to provide additional protection to conventional level IIIA ballistic armor vests, made with Kevlar, by introducing the PALF composite plate, effectively changing the ballistic armor into level III. This level of protection allows the ballistic armor to be safely subjected to higher impact projectiles, such as 7.62 mm caliber rifle ammunition. The results indicate that a hard armor with a ceramic front followed by the PALF/epoxy composite meets the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) international standard for level III protection and performs comparably to that of the Dyneema plate, commonly used in armor vests.

Highlights

Since the beginning of human civilization, the scenario of armed conflicts around the world has been marked by the constant evolution of weapons and armor
The National Institute of Justice (NIJ) standard [11] indicated that the group test for level III hard armor should be made up of two armor panels large enough to allow a minimum of six shots, in the present work, tests were performed on reduced armor panels with only one shot per panel
A previous overview [24] showed that a multilayered armor system (MAS) with three layers, consisting of ceramic + natural lignocellulosic fibers (NLFs) composite + Al alloy, already acts as level III protection, meeting the criteria of back-face signature (BFS) depth established by NIJ standard [11]

Summary

Introduction

Since the beginning of human civilization, the scenario of armed conflicts around the world has been marked by the constant evolution of weapons and armor. The increase in protection capacity of monolithic armor [2,3,4] normally causes an increase in its weight. Benzait and Trabzon [10] stated that the emergence of new materials with outstanding stiffness and strength, as well as light density and high energy absorption, makes them a future choice for ballistic armor materials.

Methods

Results

Conclusion