The multi-shock shield concept devised by Crews and Cour-Palais,1 composed of multiple ceramic cloth bumper layers and an aluminum back sheet, was used to investigate the response of woven ceramic bumpers to a hypervelocity impact. Observations made on past hypervelocity impact test data show that areal density is the most important bumper characteristic for initially breaking up solid particles. Our research has shown that once the solid particle has been shocked into a cloud of liquid and vapor, the weave pattern of the cloth bumper can influence the ability of the shield to absorb and contain the energy of the debris cloud. To design a weave that will absorb particle energy more efficiently, we need to understand the micromechanics of the interaction between the debris cloud and the cloth bumper. In this paper we discuss our observations on the response of a ceramic cloth bumper to a hypervelocity impact and the failure mode occurring at the individual strand level.
