Ballistic performance of Polycarbonate and Polymethyl methacrylate under normal and inclined dynamic impacts

Abstract

Polymeric materials have exceptional mechanical properties, making them attractive for automotive, aerospace, defence and buildings industries. The numerical analysis of translucent polymeric materials' ballistic performance is investigated to analyse the deflection and perforation performance at high impact velocities. Computational methods are exploited to predict the ballistic performance of thick targets and projectile damage, and the results are validated against published works. The 3D numerical analysis is conducted by simulating plates and projectiles' mechanical performance that controls the deflection and ricochet procedure. Impact damage analysis is undertaken on monolithic Polycarbonate (PC) and Polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) targets under various impact velocities, projectile's core density with inclined and normal impact angle. The results are analysed in terms of failure performance, depth of penetration (DOP), penetration path (POP), and residual velocity. The numerical analysis is further developed to investigate the projectile's impact velocity effects on the DOP and its direction. The results showed that the DOP changes linearly with the impact velocity, where the POP is as yet nonlinear. Extended Drucker Prager Strength (EDP) material model with the failure criteria of principal stress and tensile pressure failure is used to simulate the brittle-ductile PMMA target's performance under dynamic impact. Shock Hugoniots equation of state with plastic strain failure is conducted to affect PC plates' tensile performance.

The Effect of Notch and Molecular Weight on the Impact Fracture Behavior of Polycarbonate

“…Molecular weight is a key parameter that affects the physical, mechanical, and processable properties of polymers, and directly determines the application of the product, as well as PC. For example, low-molecular-weight PC is suitable as a substrate for digital storage media [ 5 ], and high-molecular-weight PC with excellent optical properties is used in aircraft windshields [ 6 ] and bulletproof shields [ 7 ].…”

Numerical simulation and experimental research of low energy impact on police riot suit

“…Moreover, in order to obtain reliable impact resistance results, the test period is long. In addition, most impact studies on police riot suits are conducted for impact performance test of specific single material, [2][3][4][5] but lack of impact performance test of multi-layer series stacked products. 6 In this paper, ABAQUS is used to establish a numerical model of low energy impact of multi-layer material series stacked riot suit.…”

Impact Response of Monolithic and Laminated Polycarbonate Panels: An Experimental and Numerical Investigation

“…However, as stated in reference [ 20 ], this model is not very accurate in capturing the polymer yield stress at high strain rates. In this regard, other constitutive models, such as the Drucker–Prager model, which considers the pressure dependency of the polymer, were proposed by some research studies [ 21 ], or the Johnson–Cook law, which was validated on PC panels by Sarıkaya et al [ 22 ] and defines an experimental and numerical protocol for the identification of all the parameters of the model. Other advanced material models were developed for thermoplastics, as in Bergström and Bischoff’s work [ 23 ], where it was found that traditional metal plasticity models are not accurate for predicting the deformation of ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE).…”