Computational simulation of the ballistic impact of fabrics using hybrid shell element

Abstract

This paper investigates on a computational simulation of Twaron® fabric against ballistic impact. It proposed a hybrid shell element model considering the strain-rate-sensitive failure criterion. This model innovatively provided a resolution of the yarn level to better capture the unique properties of the woven fabric, such as yarn crimp, sliding contact between yarns, stress transmission on yarns and yarn broken. The fabric is modeled using a hybrid shell element analysis approach aim of reducing the complexity and computational expense while ensuring accuracy. The response characteristics of fabric under high velocity ballistic impact are studied by applying a 3D finite element program DYNA3D in this paper and the experimental investigation had been taken by Shim et al. According to the computational and experimental results, transverse deflection distribution and stress transmission of fabrics are presented. The ballistic limit, energy absorption, remaining velocity are calculated by simulation models and compared with the experimental results. This approach is also validated by comparing it against a 2D uniform shell model and a 3D interlacing shell model. The results show that the hybrid model can accurately reflect the buckling and fluctuation behavior of fabrics and has a relatively few computational consumption at the same time.