Investigation of ballistic performance of aramid fabrics modified by polyethylene and graphene in high temperature and humidity environments

In today’s world, conflicts are constant, and the environment in world is complex and diverse. The aging of bulletproof vests has become increasingly important. To investigate the environmental adaptability of polyethylene and graphene modified aramid fabrics, this study subjected the modified fabrics to high-temperature and humidity cycling treatments, followed by ballistic experiments to compare the ballistic limits of the fabrics. Various environmental factors affecting the ballistic performance of different fabrics were analyzed. The experimental results indicate that the ballistic performance of pure aramid fabrics is minimally affected by temperature and humidity, demonstrating strong stability. As the temperature increases, the ballistic limits of the modified fabrics gradually decrease; however, the decline is relatively small, at only 9.5%. The use of graphene can resist the effects of humidity and heat to some extent: under 120°C and humidity cycling conditions, the graphene modified fabric outperforms the polyethylene modified fabric. Furthermore, temperature has almost no effect on the failure modes of the various fabrics.