The Effect of a Carbon-Nanotube Forest-Mat Strike Face on the Ballistic-Protection Performance of E-Glass Reinforced Poly-Vinyl-Ester-Epoxy Composite Armour

• Main Authors: Grujicic, M, Bell, W C, Biggers, S B, Koudela, K L, Tarter, J F, Cheeseman, B A
• Format: Report
• Language: English
• Subjects: Armor; Ballistics; CARBON NANOTUBES; COMPOSITE ARMOR; COMPOSITE MATERIALS; COMPOSITE MATS; Laminates and Composite Materials; MONOLITHIC ARMOR; MWCNT(MULTI-WALLED CARBON NANOTUBE); NONLINEAR ANALYSIS; NONLINEAR DYNAMICS; PROJECTILES; PVEE(POLY-VINYL-ESTER-EPOXY); Refractory Fibers; REINFORCING MATERIALS; THICKNESS; TRANSIENTS; VINYL ESTER EPOXIES

In the present work, a ballistic material-model development approach is combined with transient non-linear dynamics simulations of the projectile/armour interactions to explore the armour-hard-facing potential of multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) reinforced, polyvinyl- ester-epoxy (PVEE)-matrix composite mats. This approach is applied to improving the ballistic-protection performance of E-glass fibre-mat reinforced PVEE-matrix laminate armour. Two different architectures of the MWCNT-reinforced/PVEE-matrix composite mats were considered: (a) a MWCNT-ply mat structure in which the MWCNT reinforcements are aligned parallel to the armour faces and (b) a MWCNT-forest mat structure in which the MWCNT reinforcements are aligned orthogonally to the armour faces. The projectile/armour interaction simulation results showed that, at low volume fractions of MWCNTs, both armour architectures yield no discernable increase in the armour ballistic-protection performance as measured by the armour. On the other hand, at high MWCNT volume fractions of MWCNTs, the first armour architecture remained ineffective whereas the second showed a minor improvement in the ballistic-protection performance relative to the corresponding monolithic armour. These results were rationalized using published experimental observations pertaining to the effect of MWCNTs on the in-plane and the through-the-thickness properties of fibre-mat/polymer-matrix composite materials. Published in the Journal of Materials Design and Applications (Proc. IMechE), v222 Part L, p15-27, 2008. Supported in part by the U.S. Army Agreement no. W911NF-04-2-0024, Grant no. DAAD19-01-1-0661, ARL.