Stab Resistance of Thermoset-Impregnated UHMWPE Fabrics

Abstract

The stab resistance of thermoset(TS) impregnated, woven UHMWPE fabric with additional steel fabrics was investigated under dynamic stab testing conditions. Vinyl-ester resin was coated on the UHMWPE fabrics with hand lay-up process to fabricate the composite and the mental fabrics were laminated on the composites. Dynamic stab testing of targets was based on GA68-2008 for stab resistance of body armor. Six uniform specified knives impactor were used for testing. And the samples are found to present significant improvements in stab resistance (knife threat) over neat fabric targets of equal areal density. Photographs show that resin primarily reduces the mobility of yarns and enables them to stop the knife penetration more effectively in the damage zone. These results indicate that the penetration of knives through such multilayer fabrics is effectively prevented and the process could be used to fabricate flexible body armors that provide improved protection against stab threat.