Promising curaua fiber-reinforced polyester composite for high-impact ballistic multilayered armor

Abstract

A typical multilayered armor system (MAS) is composed of a harder front ceramic tile, which is able to erode heavy ammunition, such as the 7.62 mm bullet, followed by a second layer to further reduce the impact energy. Aramid fabric is a common choice for the second layer. In the present work, polyester matrix composites reinforced with 10 to 30 vol% of curaua fibers, despite having much lower strength and stiffness than aramid fabric, displayed similar trauma indentation in a standard clay witness simulating the human body. Impedance matching and scanning electron microscopy analyses suggest effective energy absorption through ceramic fragment capture by curaua composites. Additionally, because of the high cost of aramid fabric, a full MAS with curaua fiber composite is much cheaper than a MAS composed of aramid fabric. Taking into consideration, both the economical and environmental advantages of natural fibers, it is concluded that curaua fiber-reinforced polyester composite could replace aramid fabric as the second layer in MASs for personal ballistic protection. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 57:947-954,

Ballistic Application of Coir Fiber Reinforced Epoxy Composite in Multilayered Armor

“…7(a) the small white particles of ceramic covering the fracture surface. This is an indication of a mechanism associated with the capture of fragments from the front ceramic, as previously reported for other natural fiber composites as MAS second layer [13][14][15][16][17][18] . Evidence of coir fiber pullout is depicted in Fig 7 (b).…”

“…In principle, the recognized mechanisms are stretching, delamination and rupture of fibers [13][14][15][16][17][18] . However, another efficient mechanism of energy dissipation is the capture of fragments resulting from the shatter of the first layer 27 .…”

“…Therefore, new materials are being investigated to attend both ballistic performance and economical market advantage. Polymer based composites reinforced with natural fibers have been ballistic tested as possible application in armors [10][11][12][13][14][15][16] . Recently the use of natural fabrics, fabricated from lignocellulosic fibers, as polymer composite reinforcement to be applied in MAS second layer was investigated 17,18 .…”

Ballistic Performance of Mallow and Jute Natural Fabrics Reinforced Epoxy Composites in Multilayered Armor

“…In particular, investigations on the ballistic performance of natural fiber composites are, since 2001, also following this tendency [15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23] . More recently, specific works [18][19][20][21][22][23] were published on the ballistic performance of natural fibers reinforced polymeric composites. The ballistic performance was evaluated in standard tests 24 against high energy 7.62 mm ammunition by measuring the depth of indentation produced in clay witness simulating a human body behind the MAS.…”

“…The ballistic performance was evaluated in standard tests 24 against high energy 7.62 mm ammunition by measuring the depth of indentation produced in clay witness simulating a human body behind the MAS. Curaua 20,23 , bamboo 19 and sisal 21 fibers composites were tested as components of a multilayered system (MAS) with a front ceramic Other works on MAS and related mechanisms of ballistic protection have been presented since last decade [25][26] . In addition to loose and continuous natural fibers in the composite [19][20][21][22] , natural fabrics, made of jute 18 and ramie 22 fibers, reinforced polymer matrix composites were also similarly investigated.…”