Lihong Yang

The anti-penetration performance of the composite armor structures, which are composed of steel, Kevlar composite, and ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) composite, were investigated numerically. The effects of composite armor configurations, the thickness of back plates, the shapes and incident angles of projectile on the anti-penetration performance were analyzed. The results indicate that the configuration with steel, Kevlar and UHMWPE on the first, second and third layers of the composite armor have the better anti-penetration performance. As the thickness of the composites back plate increases, the specific energy absorption of the composite armor decreases while the anti-penetration performance of the composite armor increases. In addition, it can be also found that the ball-headed projectile has stronger penetration ability than the flat-headed projectile of the same weight, and the penetration ability of projectile decreases with the increase in the impact angle of projectile.

The dynamic responses of layered polyvinyl chloride (PVC) foam sandwich panels under air blast loads were investigated by employing 3D numerical simulation method. PVC foam of different densities and Kevlar composite were selected, respectively, as core and face sheets of sandwich panels. The quasi-static mechanical behavior of PVC foam was tested by a quasi-static compression experiment. Two types of density-graded panels (three-layer foam core and six-layer foam core) were analyzed under different explosive charge to explore the effect of gradient arrangement and the layer number of foam core. The validation of the simulation approach was studied by a comparison of simulation results with the existing experimental results from the literature. The deformation characteristics, support reactions and energy absorption of sandwich panels were analyzed to explore the blast resistance of the graded foam sandwich structures. It can be found that the gradient strategy of foam core has a significant influence on the PVC foam sandwich panel under air blast loads, and increasing the thickness of the back sheet is an effective measurement to improve the blast resistance of PVC foam sandwich panel with Kevlar face sheet.