Ballistic Impact Performance Study on Thermoset and Thermoplastic Composites

Ballistic impact-resistant materials are of interest for the past few decades. Ballistic impact is a high-velocity impact where the target material is perforated by the projectile, such as a bullet hitting on a surface. In this study, the effect of ballistic impact on thermoset composites, Kevlar–Epoxy, Carbon–Epoxy, Glass–Epoxy, and thermoplastic composite, Carbon–Polyetheretherketone, was done. Projectile residual velocity and projectile penetration depth were used to quantify the effectiveness of the composite material to resist perforation. The simulation study was done on ABAQUS-6.13. The study included preliminary fiber orientation studies and selection of the best performing composite with the most effective fiber orientation. Further, the selection of the best performing target material was done by varying target thickness and projectile velocity. In this study, high-performance Carbon–Polyetheretherketone composite showed the most impact resistance. © 2017, ASM International.