BALLISTIC PERFORMANCE OF A KEVLAR-29 WOVEN FIBRE COMPOSITE UNDER VARIED TEMPERATURES

Armours are usually manufactured from polymer matrix composites and used for both military and non-military purposes in different seasons, climates, and regions. The mechanical properties of the composites depend on temperature, which also affects their ballistic characteristics. The armour is used to absorb the kinetic energy of a projectile without any major injury to a person. Therefore, besides a high strength and lightness, a high damping capacity is required to absorb the impact energy transferred by the projectile. The ballistic properties of a Kevlar 29/polyvinyl butyral composite are investigated under varied temperatures in this study. The elastic modulus of the composite is determined from the natural frequency of composite specimens at different temperatures by using a damping monitoring method. Then, the backside deformation of composite plates is analysed experimentally and numerically employing the finite-element program Abaqus. The experimental and numeric results obtained are in good agreement.