Investigation of ballistic properties of woven-unidirectional hybrid panels according to energy absorption capabilities

Abstract

This paper presents an investigation regarding the ballistic performance of hybrid panels formed by combining para-aramid woven fabrics and unidirectional fabrics. For this purpose, hybrid panels are formed at different structure and fabric ply numbers by combining Twaron CT 710 type woven and K-Flex unidirectional fabrics. The hybrid panels formed this way are subjected to ballistic tests according to NIJ standarts. Ballistic performance of test samples are determined by measuring trauma depth and diameter. The energy absorbed by fabric layers and the energy transmitted to the back of fabric layers are determined from trauma depth and diameter values using a different approach. It is shown that in hybrid panels, around 4.48% improvement is obtained in trauma depth in hybrid panels compared to panels formed by 100% woven fabrics and 3% improvement is obtained in trauma diameter in hybrid panels compared to panels formed by 100% unidirectional fabric panels. As far as the energy transmitted to the back side of the panels is concerned, an improvement of 13.9% is gained with hybrid panels compared to 100% unidirectional fabric panels. It is also found that an improvement of 8.48% in energy absorbed per unit weight is obtained with hybrid panels compared to the panels formed by using 100% woven fabrics.