An optimization design method of steel/aramid fiber composite structure against fragment penetration

An optimization design method for the new type steel/aramid fiber laminated composite structure against fragment penetration was studied in this paper. The ballistic limit velocity experiment results of 7.5 g FSP fragment impacting 4 mm steel+12 mm aramid fiber composite plate, and 5 mm steel+10 mm aramid fiber composite plate were analyzed. The numerical simulation of fragment impacting composite structure at same experimental condition was performed. Based on the validated numerical simulation model, the numerical simulation of 7.5 g and 10.0 g fragments impacting 4 mm and 5 mm laminated with 6-16 mm thickness aramid fiber composite plates was performed. The corresponding ballistic limit velocities was obtained. The penetration mechanism was then analyzed based on the experiment data and numerical simulation results. According to the protection characteristics of this kind of composite structures, using minimum areal density as target function, a structure parameter optimization design model was created which was suitable for certain mass fragment impacting target at a certain velocity range. The proposed method was used to design the steel/aramid fiber composite against 10.0 g fragment impacting at 1 100 m/s. The composite structure was tested experimentally and the rationality and applicability were verified.