Study of Dynamic Impact Behaviors and Ballistic Properties of Hybrid Composites

This paper deals with the ballistic properties of two kinds of hybrid composites: Kevlar/Carbon laminates and S-Glass/Carbon laminates. Twelve kinds of combinations of samples were made including various fibers; various fiber orientations and various target thickness. Air-gun tests were carried out to determine the response of these combinations of hybrid laminates subject
to impact loading.
Compared with the test, an explicit finite element (FE) model was built with Pam-crash Code
to simulate the impact process. The bullet was considered as a deformable body in contact with the composite shells. The Ladevèze model was used to describe the unidirectional properties of Carbon plies and Ladevèze fabric model was used to describe the homogeneous properties of the S-glass and Kevlar laminates. The influence of different parameters on the impact behavior of the two kinds of hybrid laminates was considered analytically. Results show very good agreement with the experimental data. Suggestions are also presented for the better hybrid mode to improve the ballistic properties.