Influence of fabric structure and thickness on the ballistic impact behavior of Ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene composite laminate

This paper presents the influence of fabric structure and thickness on the ballistic impact behavior of Ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) composite laminate. UHMWPE composite laminates, reinforced by three kinds of fabric structures, unidirectional prepreg, 2D plain-woven and 3D single-ply orthogonal woven fabrics, were fabricated via hot pressing curing process. Through a series of standard ballistic tests, we demonstrated that unidirectional composite laminates exhibit higher ballistic impact velocity and absorbed energy capacity compared to others. A bi-linear relationship was found between the ballistic limit velocity and specimen thickness. Furthermore, the dominant failure mechanisms of unidirectional composite laminates were identified to be plugging and hole friction for thin laminates, whereas delamination, fiber tension and bulging for thick ones.