Study on shield configuration stuffed with the integrated fabric layer and its bracing structure

Abstract

Two alternative techniques to brace the fabric layers stuffed in high-performance shield configurations are evaluated by hypervelocity impact tests respectively. Al honeycomb core and Al mesh are proposed to brace the fabric layers separately. There are four types of stuffed layer structures. The first structure consists of two kinds of fabrics, one layer of basalt fabric followed with one layer of Aramid-III fabric repeatedly. The second type is the first one plus Al honeycomb core. The third type contains several layers of basalt fabric and one layer of Al mesh. The fourth type is similar to the third one, while the stuffed layer is sewed with the aramid thread. For the target configurations, the bumper and the rear plate are 1mm-thick Al plate and the stuffed layer is 100 mm from the bumper. The targets are impacted by Al projectile with the diameters about 5 mm, and the velocities range from 4 km/s to 5 km/s. According to the test results, the fixing and support structure weight of the fabric layer is lightened by using the Al honeycomb core. The Al honeycomb core absorbs and dissipates the kinetic energy of debris cloud effectively, however, its channel effect aggravates the perforation damage on the rear plate. For the fourth structure, the Al mesh plays the role of fixing and supporting basalt fabric, but the performance of stuffed layer intercepting debris cloud is reduced.