Study of impact resistance of a novel bio-inspired ceramic-composite structure using finite element simulations

The multi-layer armor shell structure of the scaly-foot snail has been proven to be resistant to penetration and perforation. Inspired by the special structure, a novel ceramic-composite impact-resistant structure was proposed. We developed a user-defined subroutine (VUMAT) of the finite element software ABQUS to analyze the progressive damage process and energy dissipation mechanism under impact. It is found that the novel structure features rigid-flexible coupling, both soft and hard layers play a key role in the impact resistance process. Compared with the traditional sandwich structure, the novel structure has better impact resistance under the impact energy of 20 J–80 J.