Numerical Modelling of Ballistic response of Para-Aramid Woven Fabric under Ballistic Impact

Body armours are generally made of para-aramid woven fabric. Although being accurate, experiments provide a cumulative effect of all involving parameters which are difficult to be isolated. Analytical models, on the other hand, are not so accurate to capture the real physical behaviour. Therefore numerical simulation is inevitable to determine the performance of armour and effect of various parameters. Available three dimensional numerical models are computationally intensive especially when large numbers of simulations are required to be performed. Here a simple FE model is developed and effects of various parameters such as projectile nose shapes, friction coefficient, on the ballistic response of KM2 fabric are studied. Yarns are modeled by 1D wire element. The simplified model is validated against some equivalent experimental and numerical results reported in the literature. Based on the several numerical simulations it is observed that higher inter-yarn friction may not always give better ballistic performance. Inter-yarn friction improves the ballistic performance up to a limiting value. Beyond this threshold value, increasing friction may adversely affect the energy dissipation and failure mechanism.