Ballistic response of armour plates using Generative Adversarial Networks

It is important to understand how ballistic materials respond to impact from projectiles such that informed decisions can be made in the design process of protective armour systems. Ballistic testing is a standards-based process where materials are tested to determine whether they meet protection, safety and performance criteria. For the V₅₀ ballistic test, projectiles are fired at different velocities to determine a key design parameter known as the ballistic limit velocity (BLV), the velocity above which projectiles perforate the target. These tests, however, are destructive by nature and as such there can be considerable associated costs, especially when studying complex armour materials and systems. This study proposes a unique solution to the problem using a recent class of machine learning system known as the Generative Adversarial Network (GAN). The GAN can be used to generate new ballistic samples as opposed to performing additional destructive experiments. A GAN network architecture is tested and trained on three different ballistic data sets, and their performance is compared. The trained networks were able to successfully produce ballistic curves with an overall RMSE of between 10 and 20 % and predicted the V₅₀ BLV in each case with an error of less than 5 %. The results demonstrate that it is possible to train generative networks on a limited number of ballistic samples and use the trained network to generate many new samples representative of the data that it was trained on. The paper spotlights the benefits that generative networks can bring to ballistic applications and provides an alternative to expensive testing during the early stages of the design process.     

Critical interfaces in body armour systems

The ballistic performance, and behaviour, of an armour system is governed by two major sets of variables, geometrical and material. Of these, the consistency of performance, especially against small arms ammunition, will depend upon the consistency of the properties of the constituent materials. In a body armour system for example, fibre diameter, areal density of woven fabric, and bulk density of ceramic are examples of critical parameters and monitoring such parameters will form the backbone of associated quality control procedures. What is often overlooked, because it can fall into the User’s domain, are the interfaces that exist between the various products; the carrier, the Soft Armour Insert (SAI), and the one or two hard armour plates (HAP1 and HAP2). This is especially true if the various products are sourced from different suppliers.There are between 30 and 150 individual layers within a typical body armour system, and each of the interfaces between each of those layers will, in some way or another, contribute to the ballistic performance of the system. For example, consider the following interfaces/interlayers: (i) the frictional, sliding, inter-ply surfaces within a soft armour pack, and also between the pack and the carrier, (ii) the air-gaps that may develop within the soft armour pack, (iii) the interconnecting space between the soft armour pack and the hard armour plate, (iv) the nature of the interfaces between adjacent plies of a multiplied backing laminate, even in a highly compressed Ultra High Molecular Weight Polyethylene (UHMWPE) variant, (v) the interlayer between the ceramic and its substrate, within a HAP, and (vi) the geometrical fit between two hard armour plates within a stacked body armour system. This paper will provide a User-friendly overview of all such interfaces and provide unique guidance as to their criticality and influence.     

Round robin using the depth of penetration test method on an armour grade alumina

The depth of penetration (DOP) method is a well-known ballistic test method for characterisation and ranking of ceramic armour materials. The ceramic tile is bonded to a backing material of semi-infinite thickness, and the penetration depth of the projectile gives a measure of the performance of the ceramic. There is, however, an inherent variability in the results from this test method. In this work, the accuracy and the variability of the DOP method has been investigated in a round robin exercise. Six ballistic test centres took part in the exercise. A test protocol was developed, in which the threat type (projectile and impact conditions) and a procedure on how to prepare the targets were specified. The targets consisted of alumina tiles of two different thicknesses that were bonded to polycarbonate backing cubes. Two different 7.62 mm armour piercing projectiles were employed; one with a hard steel core and one with a tungsten carbide core. The projectiles and the other materials all came from single material batches in order to avoid batch-to-batch variations in material properties. These materials were distributed between the ballistic test centres. The test results of the different ballistic test facilities were collected and compared. There was not a lot of variation between the average DOP values obtained at each laboratory, but the variation in penetration depth between shots was high. The consequence of this variation may be less confidence in the test results, and a statistical method was used to evaluate the required number of tests that are sufficient to obtain an average result with high confidence. In most cases, the required number of tests is much higher than what is practically feasible. This work was conducted as part of the European Defence Agency-project CERAMBALL.     

Dynamic impact protective body armour: A comprehensive appraisal on panel engineering design and its prospective materials

Personal body armour is one of the most important pieces of equipment to protect human beings from various critical and fatal injuries. In today’s modern world, various organizations including law enforcement and security service have made it mandatory for their personnel to wear personal protection system while on field duty. However, the systems should comprise an improved ballistic performance, light-weighted, flexible as well as comfortable panel not only to be accepted with a wider range but also for effective performances of the consumer. Generally, the overall performances of the protective body armour could be affected by various parameters including armour design techniques, type of materials used and finishing of the panels. The current paper aims to critically review state-of-art for armour panel design techniques and the different perspective body armour materials. The paper starts by discussing the different body armour and its category. Later, the different states of technology for armour panel design (mostly for women), its problems and the possible solutions will be cited. Later, the commonly used different polymeric fibrous and the future possible advanced materials including carbon nanotube (CNT), Graphene CNT and shear thickening fluids (STFs) treated materials for developing the reinforced body armour panel will be discussed. The authors believe that this paper will enlighten useful guidelines and procedures about the different panel design techniques and current and promising future materials for researchers, designers, engineers and manufacturers working on the impact resistance body armour field.     

Enhancement of wear and ballistic resistance of armour grade AA7075 aluminium alloy using friction stir processing

Industrial applications of aluminium and its alloys are restricted because of their poor tribological properties. Thermal spraying, laser surfacing, electron beam welding are the most widely used techniques to alter the surface morphology of base metal. Preliminary studies reveal that the coating and layering of aluminium alloys with ceramic particles enhance the ballistic resistance. Furthermore, among aluminium alloys,7075 aluminium alloy exhibits high strength which can be compared to that of steels and has profound applications in the designing of lightweight fortification structures and integrated protection systems. Having limitations such as poor bond integrity, formation of detrimental phases and interfacial reaction between reinforcement and substrate using fusion route to deposit hard particles paves the way to adopt friction stir processing for fabricating surface composites using different sizes of boron carbide particles as reinforcement on armour grade 7075 aluminium alloy as matrix in the present investigation. Wear and ballistic tests were carried out to assess the performance of friction stir processed AA7075 alloy. Significant improvement in wear resistance of friction stir processed surface composites is attributed to the change in wear mechanism from abrasion to adhesion. It has also been observed that the surface metal matrix composites have shown better ballistic resistance compared to the substrate AA7075 alloy. Addition of solid lubricant Mo S2 has reduced the depth of penetration of the projectile to half that of base metal AA7075 alloy. For the first time, the friction stir processing technique was successfully used to improve the wear and ballistic resistances of armour grade high strength AA7075 alloy.     

A bayesian optimisation methodology for the inverse derivation of viscoplasticity model constants in high strain-rate simulations

We present an inverse methodology for deriving viscoplasticity constitutive model parameters for use in explicit finite element simulations of dynamic processes using functional experiments, i.e., those which provide value beyond that of constitutive model development. The developed methodology utilises Bayesian optimisation to minimise the error between experimental measurements and numerical simulations performed in LS-DYNA. We demonstrate the optimisation methodology using high hardness armour steels across three types of experiments that induce a wide range of loading conditions: ballistic penetration, rod-on-anvil, and near-field blast deformation. By utilising such a broad range of conditions for the optimisation, the resulting constitutive model parameters are generalised, i.e., applicable across the range of loading conditions encompassed the by those experiments (e.g., stress states, plastic strain magnitudes, strain rates, etc.). Model constants identified using this methodology are demonstrated to provide a generalisable model with superior predictive accuracy than those derived from conventional mechanical characterisation experiments or optimised from a single experimental condition.     

Body armour – New materials,new systems

This is a very timely review of body armour materials and systems since new test standards are currently being written, or reviewed, and new, innovative products released. Of greatest importance, however, is the recent evolution, and maturity, of the Ultra High Molecular Weight Polyethylene fibres enabling a completely new style of system to evolve – a stackable system of Hard Armour Plates. The science of body armour materials is quickly reviewed with emphasis upon current understanding of relevant energy-absorbing mechanisms in fibres, fabrics, polymeric laminates and ceramics. The trend in on-going developments in ballistic fibres is then reviewed, analysed and future projections offered. Weaknesses in some of the ceramic grades are highlighted as is the value of using cladding materials to improve the robustness, and multi-strike performance, of Hard Armour Plates. Finally, with the drive for lighter, and therefore smaller, soft armour systems for military personnel the challenges for armour designers are reported, and the importance of the relative size of the Hard Armour Plate to the Soft Armour Insert is strongly emphasised.     

An investigation on anti-impact and penetration performance of basalt fiber composites with different weave and lay-up modes

The woven basalt fiber composites (WBFC) and the unidirectional [0°/90°/45°/-45°]_s basalt fiber composites (UBFC) were prepared by hot-pressing. Three-point bending test, low velocity impact test, and ballistic test were performed to the prepared composites. After the tests, the specimens were recovered and analyzed for micromorphology. Three-point bending tests show that both the bending strength and stiffness of the WBFC surpass those of the UBFC. Low velocity impact test results show that the low velocity impact resistance to hemispherical impactor of the UBFC is higher than that of the WBFC, but the low velocity impact resistance to sharp impactor of the UBFC is lower than that of the WBFC. For the ballistic test, it can be found that the ballistic property of the UBFC is higher than that of the WBFC. After the tests, microscopic analysis of the specimens was applied, and their failure mechanism was discussed. The main failure modes of the UBFC are delamination and fibers breakage under the above loading conditions while the main failure mode of the WBFC is fibers breakage. Although delamination damage can be found in the WBFC under the above loading conditions, the degree of delamination is far less than that of the UBFC.     

穿甲子弹垂直侵彻防弹钢试验与理论模型

试验研究了穿甲子弹垂直侵彻高强防弹钢的机理,提出了一个分析靶板极限速度和弹体剩余速度的理论模型,该模型综合考虑了材料的应变率与热软化效应,结果表明,理论值与试验值吻合很好.分析了失效准则的影响,研究了剪切带温度和靶板耗能随入射速度的变化规律.     

Experimental investigation on anti-penetration performance of polyurea-coated ASTM1045 steel plate subjected to projectile impact

In this study, the anti-penetration performance of polyurea/ASTM1405-steel composite plate subjected to high velocity projectile was analyzed. Two kinds of modified polyurea material (AMMT-053 and AMMT-055) were selected and a ballistic impact testing system including speed measuring target system and high-speed camera was designed. This experiment was conducted with a rifle and 5.8 mm projectile to explore the effects by the polyurea coating thickness, the polyurea coating position and the glass-fiber cloth on the anti-penetration performance of polyurea/ASTM1405-steel composite plate. The result showed that the effects of polyurea coating position were different between two types of polyurea, and that the effects of glass-fiber position were disparate between two types of polyurea as well. For AMMT-053 polyurea material, it was better to be on front face than on rear face; whereas for AMMT-055 pol-yurea, it was better to be on rear surface although the difference was very subtle. Additionally, formulas had been given to describe the relationship between the effectiveness of polyurea and the thickness of polyurea coating. In general, AMMT-055 had better anti-penetration performance than AMMT-053. Furthermore, five typical damage modes including self-healing, crack, local bulge, spallation and local fragmentation were defined and the failure mechanism was analyzed with the results of SHPB test. Additionally, the bonding strength played an important role in the anti-penetration performance of polyurea/steel composite plate.     

球头弹低速斜侵彻下薄板穿甲破坏机理研究

为探讨球头弹低速斜侵彻下靶板的破坏机理,通过系列弹道试验,对比分析了不同初始速度下弹体的变形,靶板的破坏模式,以及靶板的破口大小及形状；同时采用ANSYS/LS-DYNA对弹靶作用过程进行了数值模拟。结果表明：低速斜侵彻下靶板响应非完全对称,根据受力特征可将靶板划分为四个不同区域,即接触区,弯曲区,拉伸区和对称区；薄板的穿甲破坏可分为四个不同的阶段,即隆起变形,碟形变形,弯曲变形,弹体贯穿阶段；不同初始速度下靶板出现四种典型的穿甲破坏模式,随着初始速度的增加依次为隆起—碟形变形,隆起—碟形变形—拉弯撕裂破坏,隆起—碟形变形—拉弯剪切破坏,隆起—拉弯剪切破坏。斜侵彻下靶板破口形状为椭圆形,随着初始速度的增加,破口长径不断减小,形状由椭圆形向卵形过渡。     

Investigation of the mechanical and ballistic properties of hybrid carbon/ aramid woven laminates

High-performance ballistic fibers, such as aramid fiber and ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene (UHMWPE), are commonly used in anti-ballistic structures due to their low density, high tensile strength and high specific modulus. However, their low modulus in the thickness direction and insufficient shear strength limits their application in certain ballistic structure. In contrast, carbon fiber reinforced epoxy resin matrix composites (CFRP) have the characteristics of high modulus in the thickness direction and high shear resistance. However, carbon fibers are rarely used and applied for protection purposes. A hybridization with aramid fiber reinforced epoxy resin matrix composites (AFRP) and CFRP has the potential to improve the stiffness and the ballistic property of the typical ballistic fiber composites. The hybrid effects on the flexural property and ballistic performance of the hybrid CFRP/AFRP laminates were investigated. Through conducting mechanical property tests and ballistic tests, two sets of reliable simulation parameters for AFRP and CFRP were established using LS-DYNA software, respectively. The experimental results suggested that by increasing the content of CFRP that the flexural properties of hybrid CFRP/AFRP laminates were enhanced. The ballistic tests’ results and the simulation illustrated that the specific energy absorption by the perforation method of CFRP achieved 77.7% of AFRP. When CFRP was on the striking face, the shear resistance of the laminates and the resistance force to the projectiles was promoted at the initial penetration stage. The proportion of fiber tensile failures in the AFRP layers was also enhanced with the addition of CFRP during the penetration process. These improvements resulted in the ballistic performance of hybrid CFRP/AFRP laminates was better than AFRP when the CFRP content was 20 wt% and 30 wt%.     

Boost-glide Weapons and US-China Strategic Stability

ABSTRACT

The United States and China are testing boost-glide weapons, long-range strike systems capable of flying at Mach 5 or faster through the upper atmosphere. For the United States, these systems would provide a conventional prompt global strike capability, which, together with US ballistic missile defense programs, Chinese experts regard as a threat to China's ability to conduct nuclear retaliation. This perception is encouraging the Chinese military to modify its nuclear posture in ways that tend to create greater risks for both sides. If China's own boost-glide systems are meant to carry nuclear payloads only, their deployment would not fundamentally alter the current situation between the two states. However, if they were conventionally armed or dual-purpose, or if the United States could not determine the payloads they carried, the deployment of Chinese boost-glide systems could compound problems of strategic stability created by the introduction of ballistic missile defense, antisatellite, and antiship ballistic missile capabilities. If the technical hurdles can be overcome, it may be difficult for the two sides to refrain from these deployments in the absence of strong mutual trust or an established arms-control relationship. New confidence-building measures and expanded mutual transparency are warranted to avoid creating new dangers.     

合成纤维的机械性能对其防弹性能的影响研究

从当前形势出发，分析了防弹材料发展的时代背景；分析了合成纤维的防弹机理；从理论上分析了纤维的机械性能与防弹性能之间的关系；对几种新型防弹纤维的机械性能对其防弹性能的影响，进行了详细对比分析。     

Partial penetration of annular grooved projectiles impacting ductile metal targets

Changing and optimizing the projectile nose shape is an important way to achieve specific ballistic performance. One special ballistic performance is the embedding effect, which can achieve a delayed high-explosive reaction on the target surface. This embedding effect includes a rebound phase that is significantly different from the traditional penetration process. To better study embedment behavior, this study proposed a novel nose shape called an annular grooved projectile and defined its interaction process with the ductile metal plate as partial penetration. Specifically, we conducted a series of low-velocity-ballistic tests in which these steel projectiles were used to strike 16-mm-thick target plates made with 2024-O aluminum alloy. We observed the dynamic evolution characteristics of this aluminum alloy near the impact craters and analyzed these characteristics by corresponding cross-sectional views and numerical simulations. The results indicated that the penetration resistance had a brief decrease that was influenced by its groove structure, but then it increased significantly-that is, the fluctuation of penetration resistance was affected by the irregular nose shape. Moreover, we visualized the distribution of the material in the groove and its inflow process through the rheology lines in microscopic tests and the highlighted mesh lines in simulations. The combination of these phenomena revealed the embed-ment mechanism of the annular grooved projectile and optimized the design of the groove shape to achieve a more firm embedment performance. The embedment was achieved primarily by the target material filled in the groove structure. Therefore, preventing the shear failure that occurred on the filling material was key to achieving this embedding effect.     

Damage mechanics and energy absorption capabilities of naturalfiber reinforced elastomeric based bio composite for sacrificial structural applications

The present study deals with the experimental, finite element (FE) and analytical assessment of low ballistic impact response of proposedflexible'green' composite make use of naturally available jute and rubber as the constituents of the composite with stacking sequences namely jute/rubber/jute (JRJ), jute/rubber/rubber/jute (JRRJ) and jute/rubber/jute/rubber/jute (JRJRJ). Ballistic impact tests were carried out by firing a conical projectile using a gas gun apparatus at lower range of ballistic impact regime. The ballistic impact response of the proposed flexible composites are assesses based on energy absorption and damage mechanism. Results revealed that inclusion of natural rubber aids in better energy ab-sorption and mitigating the failure of the proposed composite. Among the three different stacking se-quences of flexible composites considered, JRJRJ provides better ballistic performance compared to its counterparts. The damage study reveals that the main mechanism of failure involved in flexible com-posites is matrix tearing as opposed to matrix cracking in stiff composites indicating that the proposedflexible composites are free from catastrophic failure. Results obtained from experimental, FE and analytical approach pertaining to energy absorption and damage mechanism agree well with each other. The proposed flexible composites due to their exhibited energy absorption capabilities and damage mechanism are best suited as claddings for structural application subjected to impact with an aim of protecting the main structural component from being failed catastrophically.     

Determination of penetration depth at high velocity impact using finite element method and artificial neural network tools

Determination of ballistic performance of an armor solution is a complicated task and evolved significantly with the application of finite element methods(FEM) in this research field.The traditional armor design studies performed with FEM requires sophisticated procedures and intensive computational effort,therefore simpler and accurate numerical approaches are always worthwhile to decrease armor development time.This study aims to apply a hybrid method using FEM simulation and artificial neural network(ANN) analysis to approximate ballistic limit thickness for armor steels.To achieve this objective,a predictive model based on the artificial neural networks is developed to determine ballistic resistance of high hardness armor steels against 7.62 mm armor piercing ammunition.In this methodology,the FEM simulations are used to create training cases for Multilayer Perceptron(MLP) three layer networks.In order to validate FE simulation methodology,ballistic shot tests on 20 mm thickness target were performed according to standard Stanag 4569.Afterwards,the successfully trained ANN(s) is used to predict the ballistic limit thickness of 500 HB high hardness steel armor.Results show that even with limited number of data,FEM-ANN approach can be used to predict ballistic penetration depth with adequate accuracy.     

发射装药非稳态温度场仿真

弹药在长期贮存过程中,极易受环境温度和湿度的作用,使发射装药出现热分解、裂解、结霜等,严重影响弹药装药的贮存可靠性;在射击试验中,发射药温度也会对弹道性能产生极大的影响。由于不允许对弹药进行破坏性开孔,因此借助Ansys的热分析模块,对发射装药非稳态温度场进行仿真研究,获取发射装药在不同环境条件下的温度场及不同节点的温度变化规律,为弹药的贮存、试验提供一定的参考价值。     

计算机网络级联失效建模与分析

针对以往级联失效模型负载局部重分配规则与现实计算机网络全局路由特点不吻合的缺陷,模拟网络中信息流传输过程。定义路由器的失效条件,建立基于负载全局重分配的级联失效模型,并在此基础上提出基于连通和性能两方面的级联失效影响评价参数,进而分析用户流量和攻击方式对计算机网络级联失效的影响。结果表明,随着流量的增大,级联失效存在相变行为,相变点刻画了网络在不会发生级联失效前提下的最大传输能力。此外,针对网络中高度节点的攻击,更为容易引发大规模的级联失效,应予以重点保护。