Citation

Tan VBC, Zeng XS, Shim VPW. Int. J. Impact Eng. 2008; 35(11): 1303-1313.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2008, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.ijimpeng.2007.07.010

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Polyphenylene terephthalamide (PPTA) fibers or, commonly referred to as, aramid fibers, are widely used in textile and advanced composites for many impact-related applications such as bulletproof vests, helmets and various armor systems because of their high modulus and high strength. For such applications, the determination of fiber mechanical properties under dynamic loads is necessary for investigating the ballistic response and other impact-related behavior of the textile and composites.

The quasi-static and rate-dependent mechanical properties of aramid yarns are presented together with a study on different methods of securing yarn specimens in tensile tests. While capstans were found to be suitable for quasi-static tests, they either were not strong enough or had too high inertia for dynamic tests in a Split Hopkinson Pressure Bar setup. Instead, specially designed clamps were used. A viscoelastic material model to describe the mechanical behavior of the yarns, including failure, is also presented. The material model was employed in the computational simulation of ballistic penetration of woven aramid fabrics. Comparison of the simulations and actual ballistic tests showed that predictions of the energy absorbed by the fabric were in good agreement with the experiments.