Mechanics of Energy Absorbability in Plain-Woven Fabrics: An Analytical Approach

Experimental studies have shown that flexible woven fabrics can absorb significant kinetic energy from both projectile and fragment impacts through a combination of design factors which include yarn materials, weaving architectures, yarn density ratios, as well as the projectile mass, shape and velocity. 1–3 This paper investigates the relationships between various plain-woven fabric architectures, crimp imbalance and energy absorption capacities when rigid projectile strike these fabrics through a series of analytical solutions. This was accomplished through formulations of the yarn pullout and yarn migration forces. Special attention is given to the friction forces generated between yarn families at the yarn crossover regions. It was assumed that the yarns do not fail while the projectile penetrates through the fabric. Finally, the relationships between the residual velocities of the projectile and the contact angles α, (that is, the angle of circumferential contact between crossing yarns which is related to the crimp content) were determined. The results indicated that for ballistic impacts, highly crimp-imbalanced woven fabrics perform in a manner far superior to that of equally-crimped woven fabrics. These analytical solutions resulted in the ability to parametrically study the effects of crimp contents and, in particular, crimp imbalance on the effectiveness of plain-woven fabric armors.