Modeling friction effects on the ballistic impact behavior of a single-ply high-strength fabric

It has been shown through experiments that interfacial friction affects the energy absorption of fabrics subjected to ballistic impact. However, how the friction plays a role is not well understood. In this paper, a commercially available finite element analysis code, LS-DYNA, is used to model the ballistic impact of a square patch of single-ply plain-woven fabric. Three types of boundary conditions are applied on the fabric: four edges clamped, two edges clamped, and four edges free. The friction between yarns at their crossovers and the friction between projectile and fabric are taken into account. Effects of the friction during the phase prior to yarn failure are parametrically studied. Simulation results show that at a given time, the fabric with high friction absorbs more energy than the fabric with no friction. For the boundary condition with four edges free, friction contributes to increasing the fabric energy absorption mainly through the mechanism of frictional sliding dissipated energy. For the boundary conditions with two or four edges clamped, the energy dissipated through frictional sliding only accounts for a very small portion of the total absorbed energy; however, both the yarn strain energy and the yarn kinetic energy are increased when there is friction. Friction has an indirect effect on the fabric energy absorption by influencing the number of yarns that become involved. Simulation results also indicate that the boundary conditions significantly affect the fabric deformation, stress distribution, and time history of energy absorption.