Engineering and analysis of gripping fabrics for improved ballistic performance

Abstract

Previous studies show that fabric construction is one of the key factors affecting the performance of ballistic fabrics. In order to investigate the effect of yarn gripping in fabrics, plain woven narrow fabrics with different widths have been designed and studied. In terms of narrow fabrics, it was found that narrower fabric demonstrates better performance than wider ones under low impact energy due to the better weft yarn gripping effect of the selvages. In the case of higher impact energy, wider narrow fabric shows better ballistic performance in having sufficient material to dissipate the impact energy. Different ballistic panels were made for ballistic testing, with each panel only formed from the same fabric. Performance of narrow fabric panels is disappointing compared to the broad fabric panel due to the discontinuity of the fabric material. A novel broad fabric has been engineered providing both enhanced yarn gripping and material continuity. Tests showed that panels made from such fabrics have improved performance against both back face deformation and projectile penetration.

Finite element modelling effects of inter-yarn friction on the single-layer high-performance fabrics subject to ballistic impact

“…Increasing overall energy absorption can be achieved in two manners, absorbing energy much more efficiently and prolonging the failure of the fabric. However, in the previous investigations, researchers only observed the effects of inter-yarn friction on either energy absorption rate or failure time [4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14] . On one hand, slightly increasing the inter-yarn friction will result in higher energy absorption rate owing to the higher resistance force; On the other hand, it would aggravate the stress concentration from tension stress and shear stress acting on the primary yarns near the impact area and decrease the transverse deformation ability, leading to less failure time [19] .…”

“…Given the complexity of hierarchical structure of ballistic fabrics, the influence factors from the structure are considerable [1] , for instance, the strength, the pattern, the warp and weft yarn density and so on. Among those numerous influence factors, the inter-yarn friction is outstanding and vital and its effects on the ballistic performance have been investigated by some researchers, such as Hearle et al [2] , Briscoe and Motamedi [3] , Duan et al [4,5] , Zeng et al [6] , Rao et al [7] , and Sun et al [8] , Minh et al [9] , Gogineni et al [10] , Nilakantan et al [11] .,Sun et al [12,13] , Zhou et al [14] ，Wang et al [15] and Daset al [16] .…”

Numerical study of inter-yarn friction on the failure of fabrics upon ballistic impacts

“…The mechanism of inter-yarn friction during ballistic impact has been also investigated by experimental work [15][16][17][18][19] . Briscoe and Motamedi [15] as well as Hearle et al [16] applied treatments to ballistic fabrics and obtained several levels of inter-yarn friction.…”

“…In addition, some researchers tried to investigate the ballistic fabrics treated with STF（shear thickening fluid）and found the increase of inter-yarn friction after STF treatment being one of the reasons for the improved ballistic performance. Other than surface treatment for different levels of inter-yarn friction, Sun [17,18] and Zhou [19] also tried to differentiates the inter-yarn friction by utilising different textile woven structure. Contrary to their expectations, no significant difference in energy absorption was found among the fabrics with extra yarn gripping and the plain fabric, although the levels of inter-yarn friction achieved were different.…”

Finite Element Study on the Influence of Structural Parameters on the Ballistic Performance of 3D Networked Fabrics

“…Plain and basket woven fabrics are most widely used structures for ballistic protection because their high intersection ratios are recognised advantageous to transfer impact energy to the adjacent yarns [4]. Narrow fabrics with selvedge could have improved ballistic performance over full-width fabrics in the same structure [5] but have the disadvantage of yarn discontinuity in off-set ballistic panel [6]. Sun et al [7] reported that gripping and/or jointing making wide fabrics simulate the effects of fabric selvedges as those in narrow fabrics can overcome this disadvantage while keeping the effects of narrow-fabric-with-selvedge.…”