Investigation of the ballistic performance of boron carbide/kevlar/polyethylene layered hybrid armor by finite element method

With the development of weapon technology, armor systems have also evolved. Body armor protects military personnel against thoracic trauma and lethal projectile fire. The light weight and safety of body armor increases the capability and mobility of the personnel in the field. Today, increasing production costs have made simulation modeling important. In this context, in this thesis, composite armor modeling and ballistic properties of the modeled armor are investigated by finite element method. Boron carbide (B4C), epoxy reinforced kevlar 29 and ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) materials were used in armor modeling. 30 different thicknesses of armor were modeled. In order to increase the ballistic protection capability of the ceramic material, epoxy reinforced kevlar 29 material was used in the front and back layers of the ceramic material. Ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene was used as a backing plate. The models were divided into 2 different groups with 15 models in each group according to the thickness. The modeling was carried out in the ACP-Pre module of the Ansys package program, and the ballistic performance examinations were carried out in the explicit dynamics section. In the simulations, 7.62x51 mm AP bullet core was used. Considering the Level IV part of the NIJ-STD-0101.06 standard, the impact velocity was determined as 960 m/s and deformation, and energy results were obtained after impact analysis.