Numerical Simulation of Ballistic Impact of 20 mm Fragment Simulating Projectiles (FSPs) into Ultra-High Molecular Weight Polyethylene (UHMW-PE) Targets

• Author(s) / Creator(s)

  • Khanna, Kshitiz
  • Jensen, Morten Rikard

• Composite materials are widely used in the defense and aerospace industry because of their light weight and high strength properties. Ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMW-PE) is commonly used in the design of various types of armor from vehicle applications to personal protective clothing. Understanding the ballistic characteristics of this material is essential to designing safe armor systems. A numerical analysis of the ballistic impact of fragment simulating projectiles (FSPs) on UHMW-PE is presented in this paper using the IMPETUS Afea Solver Suite. The material model for UHMW-PE under high strain rates has not been discussed in the available literature. In this study, the IMPETUS fabric material model is used to define the UHMW-PE properties, along with a cohesive failure criteria to capture delamination. Several simulations were conducted with projectile impact velocities ranging from 464 m/sec to 1058 m/sec, and thickness variations of UHMW-PE of 10 mm, 20 mm, and 36.2 mm. The numerical results, which include ballistic limit and residual velocity, are verified against experimental data present in the literature. The collective findings can be applied to future work to accelerate the design process by minimizing the time and cost of performing experiments.

  Part of the Proceedings of the Canadian Society for Mechanical Engineering International Congress 2022

• Date created

  2022-06-01

• Subjects / Keywords

  • fragment simulating projectiles
  • ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene
  • numerical analysis
  • terminal ballistics
  • The IMPETUS Afea Solver®

• Type of Item

  Article (Published)

• DOI

  https://doi.org/10.7939/r3-hxt1-qf25

• License

  Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International