TY - JOUR
T1 - Effect of Material and Structure of Ultra-High-Molecular-Weight Polyethylene Body Armor on Ballistic Limit Velocity
T2 - Numerical Simulation
AU - Bian, Jiang
AU - Dai, Kaida
AU - Lv, Xiaojiang
AU - Huang, Zilu
AU - Wu, Guangrun
AU - Zhang, Yuan
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2024 by the authors.
PY - 2024/11
Y1 - 2024/11
N2 - The material properties and structural characteristics of ballistic composites are crucial to their ballistic performance. A numerical model of a 1.1 g FSP penetrating a UHMWPE target plate was established in this paper. The numerical results show that the failure process of the body armor target plate primarily involves shear failure, interlayer delamination, and tensile failure. Based on this, further research was conducted on the influence of material properties and structural characteristics on the ballistic limit velocity of the UHMWPE armor plate. Furthermore, the study evaluates the effects of elastic modulus, tensile strength, shear strength, number of layers, and interlayer strength on the ballistic limit velocity of UHMWPE body armor. The findings reveal that the ballistic limit velocity is most sensitive to changes in shear strength, with variation rates ranging from −18% to +11%, showing an approximate positive correlation, while the elastic modulus has the smallest impact on ballistic limit velocity, with variation rates ranging from −2% to +4%. Additionally, appropriate interlayer strength can improve the ballistic limit velocity of the body armor to a certain extent. This study provides theoretical methods and recommendations for optimizing anti-penetration performance of UHMWPE body armor.
AB - The material properties and structural characteristics of ballistic composites are crucial to their ballistic performance. A numerical model of a 1.1 g FSP penetrating a UHMWPE target plate was established in this paper. The numerical results show that the failure process of the body armor target plate primarily involves shear failure, interlayer delamination, and tensile failure. Based on this, further research was conducted on the influence of material properties and structural characteristics on the ballistic limit velocity of the UHMWPE armor plate. Furthermore, the study evaluates the effects of elastic modulus, tensile strength, shear strength, number of layers, and interlayer strength on the ballistic limit velocity of UHMWPE body armor. The findings reveal that the ballistic limit velocity is most sensitive to changes in shear strength, with variation rates ranging from −18% to +11%, showing an approximate positive correlation, while the elastic modulus has the smallest impact on ballistic limit velocity, with variation rates ranging from −2% to +4%. Additionally, appropriate interlayer strength can improve the ballistic limit velocity of the body armor to a certain extent. This study provides theoretical methods and recommendations for optimizing anti-penetration performance of UHMWPE body armor.
KW - ballistic limit velocity
KW - FSP
KW - numerical simulation
KW - UHMWPE body armor
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85208283902&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3390/polym16212985
DO - 10.3390/polym16212985
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85208283902
SN - 2073-4360
VL - 16
JO - Polymers
JF - Polymers
IS - 21
M1 - 2985
ER -