Influence of thickness and projectile shape on penetration resistance of the compliant composite

Abstract

The present study deals with development of conceptual proof for jute rubber based flexible composite block to completely arrest the projectile impacting the target at high velocity impact of 400 m/s through numerical simulation approach using finite element (FE) method. The proposed flexible composite blocks of repeating jute/rubber/jute (JRJ) units are modelled with varying thickness from 30 mm to 120 mm in increments of 30 mm and impacted by flat (F), ogival (O) and hemispherical (HS) shaped projectiles. All the considered projectiles are impacted with proposed flexible composite blocks of different thicknesses and the penetration behaviour of the projectile in each case is studied. The penetration depth of the projectile in case of partially penetrated cases are considered and the effect of thickness and projectile shape on percentage of penetration depth is statistically analyzed using Taguchi's design of experiments (DOE). Results reveal that the though proposed flexible composite block with thickness of 90 mm is just sufficient to arrest the complete penetration of the projectile, considering the safety issues, it is recommended to use the flexible composite with thickness of 120 mm. The nature of damage caused by the projectile in the flexible composite is also studied. Statistical studies show that thickness of the block plays a prominent role in determining the damage resistance of the flexible composite. © 2020 The Authors