Ballistic penetration simulation of a 3D woven fabric using high strain-rate dependent yarn model

3D woven fabric has great application potential in military armor systems. Here we report numerical simulation of 3 D angle interlock woven fabric(3DAWF) subjected to the ballistic impact using LS-DYNA. We employed membrane elements to construct the mesoscale yarn-level 3DAWF model to improve computational efficiencies and accuracy. The simplified Johnson-Cook (SJC) material model was proposed for simulating yarns' dynamic behaviors under high-speed impact loadings. The SJC material model and commonly used strain-rate dependent material model Cowper-Symonds (CS) were taken into the FEA model to simulate the fabric's ballistic impact behaviors separately. The ballistic impact tests of 3DAWF subjected to the Full Metal Jacket (FMJ) projectile under the strike velocity 190 ∼ 320 m/s were carried out to validate the new material model. Comparing the results between the tests and theoretical model found that the FEA model using the SJC material model can accurately predict projectile's residual velocities and fabric's deformation and damages. The numerical model using SJC yarn constitutive models can precisely capture the impact mechanism of 3DAWF.