Abstract
In this paper, hybrid composite plates for ballistic protection were investigated experimentally and numerically, with a target to reduce the weight of currently used body armor inserts and, at the same time, satisfy the requirements of the National Institute of Justice’s (NIJ) ballistic protection standards. The current study has three phases to improve the ballistic plate’s energy absorption capability. The first phase is devoted to studying the effect of the material types, including three different fibers: carbon fiber, date palm fiber, and Kevlar fiber. The second phase is dedicated to studying the effect of hybridization within layers. The two previous phases’ results were analyzed to optimize the material based on the hybrid composite ballistic plate’s maximum energy absorption capability. The commercial finite element software package LS-DYNA was employed for numerical modeling and simulation. The hybrid composite ballistic plate could absorb more impact energy than the non-hybrid Kevlar plate with the same area density from the numerical simulation results. This study provides lighter-weight ballistic inserts with a high protection level, making movement easier for the wearer. The numerical results were verified by comparing results of a plate made of 40 layers of Kevlar with an actual ballistic test. The results indicated that the simulation results were conservative compared to the ballistic test.
Highlights
As stated by the Global Terrorism Index (GTI) [1], wars and terrorist attacks have increased in 30 years
Using the back-face signature evaluation criterion, we found the new body armor plate’s optimum material sequence and geometry
It was observed that plates #1 and #2 and plates #5 and #6 succeeded in stopping the bullets in the three trials, and no full penetration occurred
Summary
As stated by the Global Terrorism Index (GTI) [1], wars and terrorist attacks have increased in 30 years. The need for a high level of ballistic protection for military and defense sectors and personal protection for law enforcement and corrections officers has been a significant challenge for defense engineers against bullets and shrapnel [2,3,4]. Ballistic-resistant body armors played a considerable role in reducing injuries that might lead to disabilities and deaths in warfighting, counterterrorism operations, and public security missions. According to statistical studies from international law enforcement agencies, ballistic-resistant body armors have saved more than 3000 police officers in the past years [6,7]. Deaths and disabilities from penetrating projectiles are not the main problems in ballistic-resistant soft body armors; the massive amount of energy delivered to the chest tissues by a nonpenetrating projectile can cause fatal injuries, which are called the “Blunt trauma” [8,9,10,11]
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