Investigation on anti‐penetration performance and damage assessment of Al ₂ O ₃ / UHMWPE mosaic composite plate under multi‐impacts

Abstract The Al₂O₃/UHMWPE mosaic composite plate is widely used in personal protection equipment, and the performance of the ballistic plate is important to provide lightweight protection under multi‐impacts. The experiment and numerical simulation were used to analyze the anti‐penetration performance of the mosaic composite plate under multi‐impacts. The fracture patterns of the ceramic cone and the fiber penetration depth were measured in the experiments by CT scan. The findings reveal that the first impact caused stress wave attenuation at the tile gap, which hindered crack propagation. The ceramic tile damage was confined primarily to the impacted tile under the first impact at the tile center; the hexagonal ceramic plate effectively limits the propagation range of cracks. The anti‐penetration performance of the plate under multiple impacts was quantified using the ceramic failure depth and expansion deformation of the fibers. When the first impact occurred at the tile center, the penetration probability of the square and hexagonal tile plates under the two impacts was 1.04% and s 0.92%, respectively. The penetration probability following a third impact depended on the distance between the first two impact points. Highlights The numerical model is quantitatively validated with experimental results. The residual anti‐penetration performance is analyzed by Δ E _g . The damage and deformation of the mosaic plate is quantified. The damage probability prediction model of the plate is established. The plate anti‐penetration performance is assessed by penetration probability.