Numerical investigation of the high-velocity impact performance of body armor panels

The body armor can effectively reduce penetration injuries and save many soldiers’ lives. However, back face deformation (BFD) accompanied by ballistic impacts on body armor can lead to fatal injuries to soldiers on the battlefield. In the study, ballistic tests and finite element models are performed to evaluate the protection of body armor panels. Both soft body armor and ceramic till are validated against the experimental data. Then, the performance of the ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) soft armor incorporating the RP #1 clay and foam pad is discussed. The simulation results show that the addition of a foam pad can effectively reduce the maximum clay BFD. At the same time, the performance of the ceramic-UHMWPE panel is studied. The ceramic tile can partly absorb the kinetic energy of the high-velocity projectile and enlarge the contact area between the UHMWPE panel and RP #1 clay, which leads to a lower BFD value. In addition, the effects of the interlaminate strength and the laminate stacking direction of the UHMWPE panel on the BFD are discussed. The current simulation can capture the damage behavior of UHMWPE laminates and ceramic tile well, which can be a guide for the design and improvement of new body armor panels.