Numerical Simulation of Anti-penetration Performance of Ceramic/Aramid Fiber/PE-UHMW Composite Armor

Abstract In order to study the anti-penetration performance of ceramic/aramid fiber/PE-UHMW composite armor, based on the FEM-SPH coupling algorithm, SPH model is established for brittle ceramic materials to simulate the formation of ceramic cone, crack propagation and fragmentation splash process. The failure mode on aramid fiber and PE-UHMW is analyzed. The influence of different projectile velocities and impact points on the anti-penetration performance of the composite armor are analyzed. The results show that the ceramic panel in the composite armor absorbs part of the kinetic energy of the projectile through passivation, fragmentation of the projectile and panel fragmentation. The failure modes of aramid laminates are mainly delamination shear failure, bending deformation and fiber tensile fracture. The failure modes of PE-UHMW laminates are mainly compression shear failure of the projectile facing surface and small-scale delamination tensile failure of the back layer fiber. When the projectile velocity is less than the ballistic limit, the energy absorption of composite armor and the maximum deformation of back plate increase with the increase of projectile velocity. When the projectile velocity is greater than the ballistic limit, the energy absorption rate of composite armor begins to decrease. When the impact point of the projectile is located at the edge of the ceramic block, the ceramic can’t effectively consume the kinetic energy of the projectile, and the composite armor presents bad performance.