A numerical study on the influence of hole defects on impact behavior of Twaron® fabric subjected to low-velocity impacts

Abstract

In the present study, a finite element impact model was created and analyzed by commercial FEM code ANSYS®-AUTODYN and then validated by drop weight impact experiment. Moreover, models of single- and multilayer panels of plain weave as well as different weaving architectures were designed and created with and without holes to compare impact properties. The influence of the size and location of hole defect on the impact behavior of single-layer Twaron® fabric were investigated, the degree of influence of hole defects with different sizes on the impact behavior and the influence level by different location of the hole defects were well investigated in. In addition, the effect of hole defects on the impact behavior of multi-layer armor panel were studied. Hole defects were less influential in terms of impact contact force and had less severe constraining effect on front layer of the panel when the number of multi-layer armor panels increased. Furthermore, the effect of hole defects on the impact behavior of different weaving architectures (i.e. plain, twill, basket, and satin weave) were analyzed. Plain weave fabric had the highest energy absorption capability in impact scenarios with and without holes among all the woven architectures. Plain weave fabric was the most affected and twill weave was the least affected by hole defects in terms of transverse wave velocity; the satin weave was the most affected and the twill weave was the least affected by hole defects in terms of energy absorption. These findings will provide guidance for engineering of soft body amour and composite materials.