Investigation of ballistic protection features and mobility of fabrics used in soft armor production

In this thesis, the definition and types of ballistic protective body armor were investigated and the production methods, usage areas and advantages and disadvantages of para-aramid and ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene based soft armor textiles were evaluated. In the studies carried out so far, the bullet stopping properties of ballistic fabrics have been analyzed in real or virtual environments. In these analyses, a single shot was made to the fabric surface, but the ballistic property may show a different behavior in multiple shots. In real ballistic tests in accordance with the standards, 6 shots are fired on 1 armor sample, 5 shots may be successful, but the 6th shot may fail because the fabric layers are deformed due to the previous shots. The reason for this is that all the properties of the ballistic protective composite armor fabric are not the same everywhere and the fiber/matrix resin distribution on the fabric is not homogeneous. In software such as ANSYS, when entering fabric properties into the program, many variables within the fabric must be introduced into the program. Unlike the experimental and simulation studies carried out to date, in this study, 26 types of soft armor fabrics from 10 producers, covering the entire defense industry, were tested under appropriate laboratory conditions, in accordance with NIJ 01.01.04 Level IIIA and STANAG 2920 standards, by firing a minimum of six shots at each product. Also, the bending resistance levels of these products were determined. In addition, unit consumption and cost analysis of the fabrics was made under current production conditions. As a result of all these studies, advantageous and disadvantageous soft armor systems were determined according to the type of preference of customers or units. According to the results obtained within the scope of this study, it was found that the lightest and low-cost armor group at the same protection level is UHMWPE based soft armor systems, while the armor group with the lowest bending resistance is para-aramid based soft armor systems. In case of suitability evaluation according to the needs of the user troops and personnel, the most suitable armor systems for commando units are UHMWPE based soft armor systems with a unit area mass below 85 g/m2. For guarding personnel, the level of ballistic resistance is a priority, and low-cost armor with a unit area mass greater than 200 g/m2 may be preferred, regardless of weight. The shrapnel projectile protection level of the soft armor used in mine protective clothing and bomb disposal suits is important, and for this purpose, it is evaluated that hybrid para-aramid based armor systems are preferred.