Ballistic Performance of Unidirectional Glass Fiber Laminated Composite Plate under Normal and Oblique Impact

Abstract

In this paper, experimental and numerical analysis of perforation behaviour of laminated composite reinforced with unidirectional glass fiber have been presented due to impact by 52 g blunt projectile. The influence of oblique impact on the ballistic performance of laminated target has been studied by considering four impact angles (0°, 30°, 45°and 60°) and impact velocities in between 50-500 m/s. The experimental impact tests on laminated target with fiber orientation (0°/90°/90°/0°) is performed with pneumatic gun. Material characterization of GFRP is performed with experimentation. The variation of residual velocity, acceleration, energy absorption and damage pattern in the laminated composite plate is studied in detail. The numerical results in terms of residual velocities and damage pattern in the target are having good agreement with experimental results and many new interesting results are also generated especially in case of oblique impact. © 2017 The Authors.