Ballistic impact performance of Kevlar®/UHMWPE hybrid composite panels with a liquid thermoplastic resin, Elium®

This study presents the ballistic impact performance of composite panels with novel liquid Methyl methacrylate (MMA) (Elium®) thermoplastic resin. The panels, which include Kevlar® (Kevlar) and ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE), and hybrids with their combination (Kevlar/UHMWPE and U...

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Main Authors: Aswani Kumar Bandaru, Dinesh Kumar Kothandan, Hemant Chouhan, Hong Ma, Ronan M. O’Higgins
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2025-04-01
Series:Materials & Design
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0264127525001261
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author Aswani Kumar Bandaru
Dinesh Kumar Kothandan
Hemant Chouhan
Hong Ma
Ronan M. O’Higgins
author_facet Aswani Kumar Bandaru
Dinesh Kumar Kothandan
Hemant Chouhan
Hong Ma
Ronan M. O’Higgins
author_sort Aswani Kumar Bandaru
collection DOAJ
description This study presents the ballistic impact performance of composite panels with novel liquid Methyl methacrylate (MMA) (Elium®) thermoplastic resin. The panels, which include Kevlar® (Kevlar) and ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE), and hybrids with their combination (Kevlar/UHMWPE and UHMWPE/Kevlar), were manufactured with different numbers of layers (16 and 24) using vacuum-assisted resin transfer. These panels were tested against 0.38 lead round nose (300 ± 15 m/s) and 0.357 semi-jacketed soft point flat (550 ± 15 m/s) projectiles. The study assesses the ballistic impact performance of single fibre reinforced and the influence of hybridisation through various parameters such as, damage patterns, back face deformation, energy absorption, and residual velocity. The results reveal that 16 and 24 layer panels effectively defeated 0.38 projectile with relatively lower back face deformation while showing perforations for 0.357 projectile with varying residual velocities for different panel configurations. The hybrid combination of Kevlar/UHMWPE with Kevlar on the front demonstrated higher energy absorption with low residual velocity, leveraging the superior energy absorption capability of Kevlar and better stretching from UHMWPE. This study not only underscores the potential of Elium® resin-based composite panels for ballistic protection but also emphasises the crucial role of reinforcement hybridisation in enhancing the ballistic performance.
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spelling doaj-art-5d3d91d931cd44eb95355d89f1d7b62b2025-08-20T03:44:12ZengElsevierMaterials & Design0264-12752025-04-0125211370610.1016/j.matdes.2025.113706Ballistic impact performance of Kevlar®/UHMWPE hybrid composite panels with a liquid thermoplastic resin, Elium®Aswani Kumar Bandaru0Dinesh Kumar Kothandan1Hemant Chouhan2Hong Ma3Ronan M. O’Higgins4Bernal Institute, School of Engineering, University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland; Corresponding author.Bernal Institute, School of Engineering, University of Limerick, Limerick, IrelandSchool of Engineering and Applied Science, Ahmedabad University, Ahmedabad, IndiaDepartment of Wind and Energy Systems, Technical University of Denmark, Roskilde, DenmarkBernal Institute, School of Engineering, University of Limerick, Limerick, IrelandThis study presents the ballistic impact performance of composite panels with novel liquid Methyl methacrylate (MMA) (Elium®) thermoplastic resin. The panels, which include Kevlar® (Kevlar) and ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE), and hybrids with their combination (Kevlar/UHMWPE and UHMWPE/Kevlar), were manufactured with different numbers of layers (16 and 24) using vacuum-assisted resin transfer. These panels were tested against 0.38 lead round nose (300 ± 15 m/s) and 0.357 semi-jacketed soft point flat (550 ± 15 m/s) projectiles. The study assesses the ballistic impact performance of single fibre reinforced and the influence of hybridisation through various parameters such as, damage patterns, back face deformation, energy absorption, and residual velocity. The results reveal that 16 and 24 layer panels effectively defeated 0.38 projectile with relatively lower back face deformation while showing perforations for 0.357 projectile with varying residual velocities for different panel configurations. The hybrid combination of Kevlar/UHMWPE with Kevlar on the front demonstrated higher energy absorption with low residual velocity, leveraging the superior energy absorption capability of Kevlar and better stretching from UHMWPE. This study not only underscores the potential of Elium® resin-based composite panels for ballistic protection but also emphasises the crucial role of reinforcement hybridisation in enhancing the ballistic performance.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0264127525001261Kevlar®UHMWPEElium®HybridEnergy absorptionBallistic impact
spellingShingle Aswani Kumar Bandaru
Dinesh Kumar Kothandan
Hemant Chouhan
Hong Ma
Ronan M. O’Higgins
Ballistic impact performance of Kevlar®/UHMWPE hybrid composite panels with a liquid thermoplastic resin, Elium®
Materials & Design
Kevlar®
UHMWPE
Elium®
Hybrid
Energy absorption
Ballistic impact
title Ballistic impact performance of Kevlar®/UHMWPE hybrid composite panels with a liquid thermoplastic resin, Elium®
title_full Ballistic impact performance of Kevlar®/UHMWPE hybrid composite panels with a liquid thermoplastic resin, Elium®
title_fullStr Ballistic impact performance of Kevlar®/UHMWPE hybrid composite panels with a liquid thermoplastic resin, Elium®
title_full_unstemmed Ballistic impact performance of Kevlar®/UHMWPE hybrid composite panels with a liquid thermoplastic resin, Elium®
title_short Ballistic impact performance of Kevlar®/UHMWPE hybrid composite panels with a liquid thermoplastic resin, Elium®
title_sort ballistic impact performance of kevlar r uhmwpe hybrid composite panels with a liquid thermoplastic resin elium r
topic Kevlar®
UHMWPE
Elium®
Hybrid
Energy absorption
Ballistic impact
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0264127525001261
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