• Advances in Computational Design
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• v.1 no.2
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• pp.139-154
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• 2016

The usage of sandwich structure is extensively increasing in lightweight protective structures due to its low density and other useful properties. Sandwich panels made of metal sheets with unfilled cellular cores are found to exhibit lower deflections by comparing to an equivalent monolithic plate of same metal and similar mass per unit density. However, the process of localized impact on solid structures involving plastic deformation, high strain rates, temperature effect, material erosion, etc. does not hold effectively as that of monolithic plate. In present work, the applications of the sandwich plate with corrugated core have been extended to develop optimized lightweight armour using foam as medium of its core by explicit finite element analysis (FEA). The mechanisms of hardened steel projectile penetration of aluminum corrugated sandwich panels filled with foams have been numerically investigated by finite element analysis (FEA). A comparative study is done for the triangular corrugated sandwich plate filled with polymeric foam and metallic foam with different densities in order to achieve the optimum penetration resistance to ballistic impact. Corrugated sandwich plates filled with metallic foams are found to be superior when compared to the polymeric one. The optimized results are then compared with that of equivalent solid and unfilled cores structure to observe the effectiveness of foam-filled corrugated sandwich plate which provides an effective resistance to ballistic response. The novel structure can be the alternative to solid aluminum plate in the applications of light weight protection system.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.191-200
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• 2017

Impact resistance and weight are important features for ballistic materials. Kevlar fibres are the most widely reinforcement for military and civil systems due to its excellent impact resistance and high strength-to-weight ratio. Kevlar fibres or spectra fiber composites are used for designing personal body armour to avoid perforation. In this study, the ballistic impact behaviour of Kevlar/filled epoxy matrix is investigated. Three different fillers, nanoclay, nanocalcite and nanocarbon, were used in order to increase the ballistic impact performance of Kevlar-epoxy composite at lower weight. The filler, nanoclay and nanocalcite, content employed was 1 wt.% and 2 of the epoxy resin-hardener mixture while the nanocarbon were dispersed into the epoxy system in a 0.5%, 1% and 2% ratio in weight relating to the epoxy matrix. Specimens were produced by a hand lay-up process. The results obtained from ballistic impact experiments were discussed in terms of damage and perforation. The experimental tests revealed a number of damage mechanisms for composite laminated plates. In the ballistic impact test, it was observed whether the target was perforated completely penetrated at the back or not. The presence of small amounts of nanoclay and nanocalcite dispersed into the epoxy system improved the impact properties of the Kevlar/epoxy composites. The laminates manufactured with epoxy resin filled by 1 wt.% of nanoclay and 2 wt% nanocalcite showed the best performance in terms of ballistic performance. The addition of nanocarbon reduced ballistic performance of Kevlar-epoxy composites when compared the results obtained for laminates with 0% nanoparticles concentration.