Ultrasonic assessment of bullet inflicted damage in aramid-epoxy composite panels

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Ultrasonic assessment of bullet inflicted damage in aramid-epoxy composite panels

Samanta, S. / Banerjee, A. / Nayak, N. / Datta, D.

Composites made from poly-aramid fabric (Twaron/Kevlar) using thermo sets and thermoplastic resins are finding wide usage in making body armors for protection against possible projectile or splinter impacts. Estimation of the extent of core damage zone created thereof is important in making decisions with regard to effective design of such armors. In the present work, immersion type ultrasonic C-scan is performed on Twaron-epoxy panels impacted by projectiles of caliber 7.62 mm. Systematic data grouping is employed for imaging and identification of the core damage area. Velocity data (strike velocity and residual velocity) for each impact are measured from a high speed camera based recording system. Areas of core damage zone, in general, are found to vary inversely with the striking velocity, but directly with energy loss of the bullet in case of perforation. Such areas, however, may increase substantially when shot lodging takes place.