Energy absorption evaluation of multiple fabrics under hypervelocity impact loading

In this work, the energy absorption capability of multiple fabrics was evaluated by hypervelocity impact (HVI) experiments. Six distinct high-performance fabrics, Aluminum (Al) mesh, and 5A06 Al plates were considered as experimental samples, and the areal density were kept constant for all shielding configuration. HVI experiments were carried out by the two-stage light gas gun capable of accelerating 3.97 mm diameter Al projectiles to 4.0 ~ 4.2 km/s. An evaluation methodology of absorbed energy was proposed to analysis the energy absorption of multiple fabrics in HVI experiments, which based on initial velocity of projectiles, penetrated layers in fabric targets, the depth and volume of the impact crater on witness plate. It was found that UHMWPE and aramid fabric targets were not penetrated, and had a higher energy absorption capacity, exhibiting excellent shielding performance compared to other materials of the same area density.