Hindawi

Advances in Materials Science and Engineering

Volume 2020, Article ID 9457489, 9 pages
https://doi.org/10.1155/2020/9457489

Research Article
Ballistic Impact Performance of SiC Ceramic-Dyneema Fiber
Composite Materials

Kai-Kuang Wu,1 Yu-Liang Chen,2,3 Jau-Nan Yeh ,2,3 Wei-Lun Chen,4 and Chia-Shih Lin5
1
Army Aviation Depot, Ministry of National Defense, Taipei, Taiwan
2
Department of Power Vehicle and Systems Engineering, Chung-Cheng Institute of Technology, National Defense University,
Taoyuan, Taiwan
3
System Engineering and Technology Program, National Chiao Tung University, Hsinchu, Taiwan
4
Army Second Regional Support Command, Ministry of National Defense, Taipei, Taiwan
5
National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology, Taoyuan City, Taiwan

Correspondence should be addressed to Jau-Nan Yeh; [email protected]

Received 24 July 2019; Revised 12 December 2019; Accepted 24 December 2019; Published 22 January 2020

Academic Editor: Fuat Kara

Copyright © 2020 Kai-Kuang Wu et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License,
which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
This study investigated the ballistic resistance of a composite target plate fabricated by combining SiC ceramic with the Dyneema
fiber. To achieve a light-weight target plate that conforms to the US National Institute of Justice level four (NIJ IV) standards,
minimal areal density analysis was conducted to obtain the optimal SiC ceramic-Dyneema fiber thickness combination. This study
used energy absorption to analyze the ballistic resistance of the target plates. To drastically reduce experimental costs, most of this
work employed ANSYS/LS-DYNA software to conduct finite element numerical simulations. First, ballistic experiments that
conformed to NIJ IV standards were conducted to verify the simulation parameter configurations. Subsequently, the correlation
function of the relationship between the combined thickness of the composite material and its ballistic resistance was determined
through the experimental design, which effectively reduced the simulation analysis time. According to simulation experiments
and regression analysis, the equation for the relationship between the combined thickness of the composite material and its
ballistic resistance was EA (hc , hf ) � − 6276.5 + 500.6hc + 1512.6hf + 30.7hc hf − 8.1h2c − 113.6h2f , though there were limitations to
its application. From the numerical analysis results, 8.1940 mm SiC ceramic and 6.9637 mm Dyneema fiber were determined to
constitute the optimal thickness combination for a composite that features a minimal areal density and which conforms to NIJ IV
standards. The combination was verified to be consistent with the numerical simulation analysis results.

1. Introduction Ceramic is extremely hard and wear-resistant, which enables

the passivation, erosion, and shattering of projectiles, increasing
Protective measures on battlefields commonly have a wide the impacted area between projectiles and armors and dissi-
range of applications for personnel, vehicles, ships, planes, pating impact load. Furthermore, shattered ceramics cause
and buildings. The latest protection technologies are gen- mutual erosion with projectiles, producing lateral and reverse
erally used on tanks (armored vehicles) and protective impact flow and preventing further penetration [1]. Fiber has
clothing. The continuous enhancement of weapons with the greater tenacity, specific strength, specific modulus, fatigue re-
progress of science and technology required the constant sistance, wear resistance, and shock absorption compared with
development of protective materials and structures. The the metal. When used as the back plate material for ceramic
most widely applied protective materials are currently ce- composite bulletproof target plates, fibers can delay tensile failure
ramic composites, which use ceramic as front plates and in ceramics, causing projectiles to fully erode the target plate and
fiber, metal, or other tough materials as the back plate. This dissipate kinetic energies, providing support and absorbing the
combination is called the ceramic composite (Figure 1). kinetic energy of projectiles and ceramic shards [2].
2 Advances in Materials Science and Engineering

increased. This caused the edge of the shell crater to collapse

and reduced its perforation size, hindering bullet movement
because of the increased thickness of the fabric layer.
Hsieh et al. [7] investigated whether the addition of
ceramic plates to aromatic polyamide fabric would alter the
fabric’s ballistic resistance. Their results indicated that 6 mm
ceramic plates were able to effectively disperse the impact
energy of bullets, and the addition of ceramic plates was able
to increase the bullet attrition rate.
Chen et al. [8] studied the resistance of ceramic-low
carbon steel composite target plates to the impact of
7.62 mm AP ammunition. The study employed a numerical
simulation that combined finite element and smoothed
particle hydrodynamics methods, whereby a mathematical
relation of ballistic limit (V50) constituting the ratio between
Ceramic panel Backplane
the thickness and surface density of ceramics and low carbon
steel was established. This relation was applicable to the
Adhesive layer
ballistic limit (V50) of 400 m/s–800 m/s and a ceramic-low
Figure 1: Schematic diagram of the ceramic composite. carbon steel thickness ratio of 1.5–6.0.
Ömer et al. [9] studied a GFRP composite material
milled to experimentally minimize the damages on the
Therefore, composite materials that combine ceramic machined surfaces, using two, three, and four flute end mills
and fiber are currently the most widely applied bullet-re- at different combinations of cutting parameters. Experi-
sistant material. The results of a review of the literature on mental results showed that the damage factor increased with
ceramic composites and ballistic protection were as follows. increasing cutting speed and feed rate; on the contrary, it was
Reviewing studies on the ballistic resistance of ceramic found that the damage factor decreased with increasing
composites before 2008, Hou et al. [3] concluded that depth of the cut and number of the flutes. In addition,
findings on the effects of the penetration resistance of ce- analysis of variance (ANOVA) results clearly revealed that
ramic composites had been inconsistent. He proposed that the feed rate was the most influential parameter affecting the
future research should shift from the application of clay- damage factor in end milling of GFRP composites.
metal composites to clay-fiber composites. Erkan et al. [10] studied a series of machining operations
In a study on the ballistic resistance of ceramic com- done for data collection by varying the flute number, feed
posite target plates that combined ceramic (Al2O3) with rate, depth of cut, and cutting speed. The relationship be-
different materials such as steel, aluminum, and spectra fiber tween the cutting parameters of end milling operations and
as the back plate, Sherman [4] concluded that the ceramic the surface roughness of the machined surface was studied.
plate was the main factor in resisting bullet penetration. For the analysis of the data and selection of the optimal
Du et al. [5] analyzed the ballistic resistance of an Al2O3- cutting parameters, Taguchi method and genetically opti-
Kevlar fiber composite target plate using the modified hy- mized neural network systems (GONNs) were used.
drodynamics of Alekseevsky–Tate, maximum strain failure Gökhan and Ömer [11] indicated that it is possible to
theory, and the law of conservation of energy. Du discerned improve the whole quality by reducing the delamination
a three-phase mode for the process of shooting a bullet at a which occurs in the drilling of carbon fiber-reinforced
target plate and established mathematical equations to plastic (CFRP) composite plates. For the study, carried out
present the energy loss in each phase and estimate the under dry machining conditions, the parameters included
ballistic limit (V50) of the target plates. After conducting three different cutting speeds, three different feed rates, and
firing tests using 7.62 mm armor-piercing (AP) incendiary drill geometry involving three different point angles.
ammunition, Du concluded that increasing the thickness or This study conducted finite element method numerical
surface density of the target plate can improve its ballistic simulations using ANSYS/LS-DYNA software to drastically
resistance, with ceramic plates showing more significant lower live firing costs and simultaneously reduce the number
improvements than fiber plates. In addition, increasing the of experiments using the factor combination of the exper-
length-diameter ratio of the bullets greatly decreased the imental design. In addition, the study used regression
ballistic limit (V50) of the target plates. analysis to obtain empirical functions and effectively reduce
In a study involving ceramic composite target plates with simulation time.
a combination of fiber layer-ceramic plate-fiber layer-alu- The present study used ballistic-resistant composite
minum alloy, Li et al. [6] conducted a qualitative analysis on target plates composed of silicon carbide ceramic (SiC) and
the ballistic resistance of the plates using theoretical models Dyneema fiber, analyzing their ballistic resistance through
such as stress wave, restraint mechanism, back-force effect, energy modes. Ballistic resistance was defined as the kinetic
and shock absorption. The results indicated that to improve energy difference and the absorptive power of the ceramic
ballistic resistance, the transmitted wave intensity had to be composite plate when the bullet penetrated it. Ballistic ex-
decreased and the reflected wave intensity had to be periments conforming to the US National Institute of Justice
Advances in Materials Science and Engineering 3

level four (NIJ IV) standards were conducted to verify the Initial velocity Residual velocity
simulation parameters; factor combinations were planned photoelectric screen photoelectric screen
using the experimental design. Further data regression was Testing weapon Target
conducted to obtain the correlation function between the Protector
thickness combination of the ceramic composite ballistic-
resistant plate and its ballistic resistance. The optimal
combined thickness of ceramic and fiber for a light-weight,
bullet-resistant ceramic composite target plate with minimal
surface density was achieved through the derivation of the
aforementioned correlation function. Finally, the optimal
combination was verified through ballistic experiments and
simulations.
Oscilloscope
2. Ballistic Experiments
Figure 2: Schematic diagram of ballistic test.
2.1. Definition of Ballistic Resistance. To acquire test data that
enabled calculation and analysis, a plate penetration ex- 2.4. Ballistic Test Results. To reduce the influences of factors
periment was conducted, and the residual velocity of the such as temperature and humidity on the results, the ex-
bullet was determined, from which the kinetic energy dif- periment was completed within the same day and conducted
ference was obtained. Thus, the study defined ballistic re- in triplicate to ensure its accuracy. To verify the parameter
sistance as the kinetic energy difference of the bullet when it settings of the finite element numerical simulation, 6 mm
penetrated the target plate, i.e., the absorptive energy of the silicon carbide ceramic and a 6 mm Dyneema fiber were
plate (equation (1)). A higher absorptive energy meant the bound and used as the ceramic composite target plate, which
plate possessed a higher ballistic resistance. Because it was was then used to conduct the target plate penetration ex-
difficult to collect the bullets that had penetrated the plates periment under the NIJ IV standard using 0.30″ AP am-
during the ballistic experiments, the mass of the bullet was munitions. The initial and residual velocities of each bullet
assumed to remain constant throughout the test: after it penetrated the plate were measured to calculate the
1 1 absorptive energy of the plate, as shown in Table 1. The bullet
EA � mv2i − mv2r , (1)
2 2 mass (m) was measured as 10.6 g and was held constant
throughout the experiment.
where EA (J) represents the ballistic resistance of the plates;
Despite minor variations in the initial velocity, it still fell
m (kg) represents the bullet weight; vi (m/s) represents the
within the range of NIJ IV standards with a difference of less
initial velocity of the bullet; and vr (m/s) represents the
than 1.263%, evidence that this experiment was well con-
residual velocity of the bullet after it penetrated the plate.
trolled. The measured absorptive energy of the target plate
also varied, but the difference was less than 0.164%, indi-
cating the stability and consistency of this experiment.
2.2. Target Plate Fabrication. The ballistic-resistant ceramic
Therefore, the influence of the initial velocity difference of
composite target plate mainly consisted of silicon SiC ce-
the bullet on the absorptive energy of the target plate could
ramic and a Dyneema (unidirectional structure) fiber back
be disregarded.
plate. The ceramic plate was hexagonal with side lengths of
The second set of data from the ballistic test was com-
60 mm each, fabricated by sintering SiC ceramic powder
pared with the analysis results to verify the finite element
under atmospheric pressure at a temperature of 2050°C. A
numerical simulation. To completely eliminate the influence
200 mm × 200 mm piece of Dyneema fabric was cut and hot-
of the initial velocity difference of the bullet on the ab-
pressed into the plate at a temperature of 115°C. The ceramic
sorptive energy of the target plate, the initial velocity was set
and fiber plates were then bound together using epoxy resin
as 875 m/s during the finite element simulation analysis.
and compressed under a 10 kg weight for 24 h to ensure they
were firmly joined.
3. Finite Element Numerical
Simulation Analysis
2.3. Ballistic Test Arrangement. This study conducted bal-
listic test in accordance with the NIJ IV standard, using 0.30″ 3.1. ANSYS/LS-DYNA Finite Element Simulation Software.
AP ammunitions, with the amount of gunpowder adjusted The LS-DYNA simulation software facilitates numerical
to achieve an initial velocity of 868 m/s ± 15 m/s. Photo- analysis on high-speed impact and penetration experiments.
electric screens were used to measure the velocity of the It is among the most powerful software programs involving
bullet, whereby two screens were placed 1 m apart to sep- dynamic finite element analysis and is widely applied in the
arately measure the initial and residual velocities of the bullet defense and civil sectors. The software mainly operates using
by transmitting the photoelectric signals to the oscilloscope. an explicit integral algorithm, with a minor integral algo-
The smallest measured scale was 10− 6 sec. Figure 2 shows a rithm acting as a supplementary mode. It also has three
schematic diagram of the ballistic experiments. numerical description methods: Lagrangian, Eulerian, and
4 Advances in Materials Science and Engineering

Table 1: Correctness of experimental.

No. vi (m/s) vr (m/s) Absorptive energy of the target plate (J)
1 871 536 2,498
2 875 542 2,501
3 882 553 2,502

arbitrary Lagrangian–Eulerian and is suitable for static load

analysis as well as studying brief or instantaneous dynamic
behaviors with short action times, large deformations,
nonlinear structural impacts, and complicated contact im-
pacts [12].
Figure 3: 0.30″ AP model.

3.2. Procedure of the Finite Element Method Numerical

Simulation. The finite element method numerical simula- 3.80
tion procedure in this study was divided into two parts. First,
the ANSYS program was used as a preprocessor to establish
high-speed impact numerical analysis models for the bullet
and the target plate. This included model drawing, meshing, 8.80
defining material properties, selecting material models, and R43.81 R70.96
configuring the contact mode, as well as control parameters R41.91
35.20
and boundary conditions, which in turn produced the
keyword file. 14.90
Next, the keyword file was input into the LS-DYNA
software solver to determine the solution and was further
processed by the LS-PrePost to analyze the penetration and 4.20
destruction mode of the target plate, as well as evaluate the
residual velocity of the bullet. 4.70
Number unit: mm
7.62
3.3. Material Model Construction. The bullet model was
Figure 4: 0.30″ AP bullet dimensions.
based on a 0.30″ AP ammunition (Figure 3), and its di-
mensions are shown in Figure 4; its exterior material and
interior materials are copper and steel, respectively. A 1/4
Table 2: Mechanical properties of material model 3
scale symmetrical model was constructed, whereby the re-
(Mat_Plastic_Kinematic).
flect function was used to present the full bullet figure during
analysis; material model 3 (Mat_Plastic_Kinematic) is suited Materials ρ (g/cm3) E (Mbar) ] SIGY (Mbar)
to model isotropic material, therefore was chosen to describe Steel 7.89 2.02 0.3 0.0107
the steel component of the bullet in this study. The me-
chanical properties of the steel are shown in Table 2. Material
model 10 (Mat_Elastic_Plastic_Hydro) allows the modeling Table 3: Mechanical properties of material model 10
of an elastic-plastic hydrodynamic material, and the char- (Mat_Elastic_Plastic_Hydro).
acteristics of copper are suited to use this model. The me-
chanical properties of copper are shown in Table 3. Materials ρ (g/cm3) SIGY (Mbar) EH (Mbar) G (Mbar)
The target plate model was divided into SiC ceramic and Cu 8.93 0.0012 0.00288 0.477
Dyneema fiber (Figure 5). Material model 110 (MAT_-
Johnson_Holmquist_Ceramics) is useful for modeling ce-
ramics [13], therefore was chosen to describe SiC ceramic. Dyneema fiber. After the fiber board was damaged by the
Mechanical properties of SiC are shown in Table 4. Dyneema bullet, the fiber will generate layer-stripped phenomenon,
fiber was described using material model 22 (MAT_Com- and the layers will delaminate. Among those “Contact”
posite_Damage), in which an orthotropic material with commands, we chose the “Contact_Tied_Surface_To_Sur-
optional brittle failure for composite can be defined. Me- face” to describe the dynamic behavior among the layers of
chanical properties of Dyneema are shown in Table 5. The the Dyneema fiber. In this contact mode, the nodes are stuck
aforementioned material parameter setting is referred to the together before the fiber board was damaged. When the
paper presented by Fawaz et al. [14]. In addition, the material of the fiber is subjected to external force, damage
“Contact_Eroding_Surface_To_Surface” contact model in will occur in accordance with the failure criterion. The
LS_DYNA was chosen to describe the dynamic behavior failure criterion is shown as equation (2), controlled by
between bullet and SiC ceramic as well as bullet and tensile failure stress and shear failure stress.
Advances in Materials Science and Engineering 5

construction of material models, the required computational

time was 2 hours.
Constructed from a combination of 6 mm SiC ceramic
and 6 mm Dyneema fiber plates, the ceramic composite
target plate in this study underwent ballistic experiments
and numerical simulation on plate penetration. Through
the initial velocity of the bullet and the residual velocity
measured after the bullet penetrated the plate, it was
estimated that the absorptive energy of the plate was
2,501 J. In addition, assuming the initial velocity of the
bullet was the same with the ballistic experiments, the
numerical simulation analysis indicated that the residual
Figure 5: Target plate model. velocity of the bullet after it penetrated the target plate was
532 m/s, and the absorptive energy of the target plate was
Table 4: Mechanical properties of SiC. estimated to be 2,558 J. The results indicated a difference
ρ 3.1 (g/cm3)
of 2.276% between the numerical simulation analysis
G 1.79 (Mbar) and the ballistic experiments (Table 6), which verifies that
A 0.96 [8, 14] the LS-DYNA model and parameter settings can be
B 0.35 [8, 14] used to simulate and analyze the actual bullet impact
C 0.0 [8, 14] phenomenon.
M 1.0 [8, 14]
N 0.65 [8, 14] 4. Optimal Thickness Combination of the
T 0.001275 (Mbar)
HEL 0.03738 (Mbar) Ceramic Composite
Phel 0.0174 (Mbar)
D1 0.48 [8, 14] 4.1. Experimental Design. To effectively lower the time re-
D2 0.48 [8, 14] quired for material model construction and numerical
K1 2.09 (Mbar) computation, this study formulated factor combinations to
reduce the number of experiments required. The empirical
function was then obtained through regression analysis to
􏼌􏼌 􏼌􏼌 2 􏼌􏼌 􏼌􏼌 2 shorten the simulation time.
􏼌􏼌σ n 􏼌􏼌 􏼌􏼌σ s 􏼌􏼌
􏼠 􏼡 +􏼠 􏼡 ≥ 1, (2) Based on previous experiences with ballistic experi-
NFLS SFLS ments, a composite target plate is deemed to meet the NIJ
IV standards if it is 15 mm thick and the ceramic part is
where NFLS is the tensile failure stress and SFLS is the shear 10 mm thick. To acquire the ballistic resistance value of
failure stress. the plate, the experiment was designed as a penetration
The mesh type used in the simulation model is hexa- test. Therefore, the thickness of the test plate should not
hedron (3D_Solid_164), and the mesh size is as follows exceed 15 mm, and the thickness of the ceramic plate
(length ∗ width ∗ height): should not exceed 10 mm.
(a) Steel: 0.021 ∗ 0.021 ∗ 0.04 (cm) Based upon face-centered cubic composite design, the
thickness of the SiC ceramic plate (hc) and thickness of the
(b) Cu: 0.025 ∗ 0.025 ∗ 0.04 (cm)
fiber plate (hf ) were used as experimental factors, and the
(c) Ceramic: 0.086 ∗ 0.1 ∗ 0.1 (cm) absorptive energy of the target plate (EA) was the reaction
(d) Fiber: 0.1 ∗ 0.1 ∗ 0.05 (cm) value. The factor combination was formulated using the 2-
factor-3-level model (Table 7). The unit for hc and hf was
Because only a quarter of the target plate and the bullet
mm, and the unit for EA was J.
model were established, the boundary conditions of the nu-
merical simulation in this study are set as the BOUNDAR-
Y_SYMMETRY_FAILURE model to allow the simulation 4.2. Test Results. The bullet mass was assumed to remain
results to map out the remaining three-quarters of the model constant throughout the experiment, and the initial velocity
and avoid unreasonable damage and physical phenomena; the of the bullet was controlled at 875 m/s. Through numerical
X-, Y-, and Z-axis movement and rotation direction of all nodes analysis following the construction of material models, the
on the symmetry axis and plane should be restrained according residual velocity of the bullet after penetrating the plate was
to the actual situation. The all sides of the back plate were set obtained, wherein EA was calculated based on the dynamic
fixed. values of the bullet velocity (Table 8).
Next, the adaptive quadratic reaction surface method was
conducted using hc and hf as operational variables, with EA as
3.4. Comparison of Numerical Simulation and Ballistic Test the reaction value. This could also be viewed as the energy
Results. The ballistic test result in this study was compared function (equation (3) whereupon the adaptive function
with that of numerical simulation analysis. Excluding the could be obtained following analysis equation (4)):
6 Advances in Materials Science and Engineering

Table 5: Mechanical properties of Dyneema.

E11,22 (GPa) E33 (GPa) G12 (GPa) G23,31 (GPa) ]22 ]31,32 Xt (GPa) Yt (GPa) Xc (GPa) Yc (GPa) ρ (g/cm3)
30.7 1.97 1.97 0.67 0.008 0.044 3.0 3.0 0.95 0.95 0.97
Eij: Young’ modulus, Gij: shear modulus, ]ij: Poisson’s ratio, ρ: density, 1–3: x-, y-, and z-axis directions of materials, Xt, Xc: maximum tensile and compressive
strength of x-axis directions, and Yt, Yc: maximum tensile and compressive strength of y-axis directions.

Table 6: Comparison of target plate absorptive energy in the numerical simulation and ballistic tests.
Ballistic experiments Numerical simulation
Target plate absorptive energy difference (%)
vi (m/s) vr (m/s) vi (m/s) vr (m/s)
875 542 875 532 2.276

Table 7: Experimental design. subjecting hc and hf in equation (2) to differentiation

No. hc (mm) hf (mm)
(equation (5)).
1 5 4
⎧
⎪ zEA − 2ae + bc
2 5 6 ⎪
⎪ � 0 ⟶ a + chf + 2 dhc � 0 ⎪
⎧
⎪ hc 􏼁max �
⎪
⎪ zhc ⎪
⎪
3 5 8 ⎪
⎨ ⎪
⎨ 4 de − c2
4 6 4 ⎪ ⟹⎪
5 6 6 ⎪
⎪ ⎪
⎪
⎪ zEA ⎪
6 6 8
⎪
⎪
⎩ � 0 ⟶ b + chc + 2ehf � 0 ⎩ 􏼐hf 􏼑 � − 2b d + ac
⎪
zhf max 4 de − c2
7 7 4
8 7 6 (5)
9 7 8

Table 8: Test data. 4.3.2. Minimal Target Plate Thickness. Equation (6) shows hc
being arranged in a series of descending power. The target
No. hc (mm) hf (mm) vi (m/s) vr (m/s) EA (J) plate thickness (θ � hc + hf ) was used as the analysis pa-
1 5 4 875 768 932 rameter and was held constant. When hf was substituted
2 5 6 875 641 1,880 with target plate thickness (θ) and hc, EA was a function of θ
3 5 8 875 612 2,073 and hc:
4 6 4 875 719 1,318
5 6 6 875 532 2,558
6 6 8 875 488 2,796 EA θ, hc 􏼁 � (− c + d + e)h2c +[(a − b) + θ(c − 2e)]hc
7 7 4 875 632 1,941
8 7 6 875 412 3,158 + 􏼐k + bθ + eθ2 􏼑
9 7 8 875 347 3,420
� P1 h2c + Q1 (θ)hc + R1 (θ)

EA 􏼐hc , hf 􏼑 � k + ahc + bhf + chc hf + dh2c + eh2f , (3) Q1 (θ)

2
Q2 (θ)
� P 1 􏼠h c + 􏼡 + 􏼠R1 (θ) − 1 􏼡
2P1 4P1 (6)
EA 􏼐hc , hf 􏼑 � − 6276.5 + 500.6hc + 1512.6hf + 30.7hc hf
− 8.1h2c − 113.6h2f . Q21 (θ)
⟹R1 (θ) − ≥ EA θ, hc 􏼁
4P1
(4)
Q21 (θ)
⟹􏼂EA θ, hc 􏼁􏼃max � R1 (θ) −
4P1
4.3. Analysis Results
P < 0.
4.3.1. Regression Function Limitations. According to equa-
tion (3), when the values of both hc and hf were 0, the value According to equation (5), EA had a maximal value when
obtained for EA was less than 0, which was clearly incon- θ remained a fixed value. In other words, when EA was a
sistent with real-world physics. Thus, there were limitations known value, the minimal target plate thickness (θmin) as
to the application of equation (3). well as the optimal thickness combination of the SiC ceramic
Because the quadratic coefficients of hc and hf were both plate and Dyneema fiber plate could be inversely calculated.
smaller than 0, it was clear that the target plate thickness had Thus, when the value of EA was 0, the minimal value of θ and
maximal influence on EA. Therefore, the maximal opera- hc could be inversely calculated according to the following
tional variable of the energy function could be acquired by equation:
Advances in Materials Science and Engineering 7

2 75
θmin � 􏽨 hc 􏼁max + 􏼐hf 􏼑max􏽩 − 􏼒 􏼓
4 de − c2
􏽰�������������������������������������
· (− c + d + e)[(a2 e + b2 d − abc) − (4 de − c2 )k], 60

c − 2e
hc 􏼁min � hc 􏼁max + 􏼒 􏼓 45
4 de − c2
􏽳��������������������������
a2 e + b2 d − abc􏼁 − 4 de − c2 􏼁k
· . 30
(− c + d + e)
(7)
15

4.3.3. Minimal Areal Density. This study sought to design a 0

light-weight ballistic-resistant target plate under the NIJ IV 0 4000 8000 12000 16000 20000
standard. Hence, areal density (Ψ) was used as the analysis EA (J)
parameter (equation (8)):
θmin (mm)
Ψ􏼐hc , hf 􏼑 � ρc hc + ρf hf Ψmin (g/mm2) ∗ 300

Ψ ρ Figure 6: Absorptive energy corresponded to minimization of

⟹ � c hc + hf (8) thickness and areal density of the target.
ρf ρf

⟹α � βhc + hf , 2ρ2f
Ψmin � 􏽨ρc hc 􏼁max + ρf 􏼐hf 􏼑max􏽩 − 􏼠 􏼡
4 de − c2
where the volume densities of SiC ceramic (ρc) and Dyneema
􏽱����������������������������������������
fiber were 3.1 × 10− 3 (g/mm3) and 0.97 × 10− 3 (g/mm3 ),
· 􏼐− cβ + d + eβ2 􏼑[(a2 e + b2 d − abc) − (4 de − c2 )k],
respectively; α is the ratio of Ψ over ρf , and β is the ratio
of ρc over ρf.
c − 2eβ
Equation (9) shows hc being arranged in a series of hc 􏼁min � hc 􏼁max + 􏼠 􏼡
descending power. The value of target areal density 4 de − c2
(Ψ � ρchc + ρf hf ) remained constant, and hf was substituted 􏽶��������������������������
􏽴
with Ψ and hc. EA was thus a function of α and hc: a2 e + b2 d − abc􏼁 − 4 de − c2 􏼁k
· .
EA α, hc 􏼁 � 􏼐− cβ + d + eβ2 􏼑h2c +[(a − bβ) + α(c − 2eβ)]hc 􏼐− cβ + d + eβ2 􏼑

(10)
+ 􏼐k + bα + eα2 􏼑

� P2 h2c + Q2 (α)hc + R2 (α) 4.3.4. Optimal Combination. To completely absorb the ki-
2 netic energy of the bullet using the SiC ceramic and
Q2 (α) Q2 (α) Dyneema fiber composite target plate, the optimal combi-
� P 2 􏼠 hc + 􏼡 + 􏼠R2 (α) − 2 􏼡
2P2 4P2 nation of hc and hf could be obtained through the afore-
mentioned numerical analysis (Figures 6 and 7).
Q22 (α)
⟹R2 (α) − ≥ EA α, hc 􏼁
4P2 4.4. Experimental Verification
Q22 (α) 4.4.1. Energy Function Verification. The energy function of
⟹􏼂EA α, hc 􏼁􏼃max � R2 (α) −
4P2 the ballistic-resistant target plate was obtained through
experimentally designed regression analysis, wherein the
P2 < 0. target plate thickness was maintained between 9 mm and
(9) 15 mm. Hence, four sets of target plate thickness combi-
nations were chosen from the range and were subjected
According to equation (9), EA had a maximal value when the to numerical simulations to verify the energy function
value of Ψ was held constant. In other words, minimal Ψ and the (Table 9). The results indicated that the optimal combination
optimal combined thickness of SiC ceramic and Dyneema fiber featuring minimal target plate thickness (θmin) which cor-
could be inversely calculated when EA was a known value. responded to the energy function and satisfied the NIJ IV
Therefore, when the value of EA was 0, the minimal value of Ψ standards was consistent with that obtained from the nu-
and hc could be inversely calculated as follows: merical simulation analysis.
8 Advances in Materials Science and Engineering

15

12

(hf)opt (mm)
6

0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
(hc)opt (mm)

Ψmin (g/mm2)
θmin (mm)

Figure 7: Optimal thickness combination of the composite materials.

Table 9: Verification of the energy function.

Energy function Numerical simulation Difference (%)
θmin mm (hc)opt mm (hf )opt mm (EA)1 J vi m/s vr m/s (EA)2 J ((EA )1/(EA )2) − 1
9.0 4.2949 4.7051 946.5579 875.0 762.0 980.3993 − 3.451
12.5 7.2564 5.2436 2,905.6687 875.0 467.0 2901.9408 0.13
14.7 9.1179 5.5821 4,080.7837 875.0 0.0 4,057.8125 0.57
15.0 9.3717 5.6283 4,237.6600 875.0 0.0 4,057.8125 4.43

Table 10: Verification of the optimal combination. conduct finite element method numerical simulations and to
Energy function Numerical simulation
obtain the correlation function of the target plate ballistic
resistance. The ballistic resistance, which is also the function
Ψmin (hc)opt (hf )opt vr
(EA)1 J vi m/s (EA)2 J of the absorptive energy of the target plate, was obtained
g/mm2 mm mm m/s
using simulations and regression analysis. From the nu-
0.032 8.1940 6.9637 4,057.8 875.00 0.00 4,057.8 merical analysis results, 8.1940 mm SiC ceramic and
6.9637 mm Dyneema fiber were determined to be the op-
timal thickness combination for a composite that features a
4.4.2. Verifying the Optimal Combination. This study aimed
minimal areal density and which conforms to NIJ IV
to develop light-weight ballistic-resistant target plates while
standards. The combination was found to be consistent with
conforming to NIJ IV standards. Therefore, the energy function
the numerical simulation analysis results.
was verified using the optimal combination with minimal areal
density (Ψmin) (Table 10). The results indicated that, in the
estimation of the absorptive energy of the target plate, the Data Availability
energy function fits the numerical simulation analysis.
All data used to support the findings of this study are in-
cluded in the tables within the article.
5. Conclusion
This study explored the relationship between the SiC ce- Conflicts of Interest
ramic and Dyneema fiber layers in a composite target plate The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.
and its ballistic resistance. To achieve a light-weight target
plate that conforms to NIJ IV standards, an analysis of the
minimal areal density was conducted to obtain the optimal References
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