A numerical and experimental analysis of the influence of crimp on ballistic impact response of woven fabrics

This paper numerically and experimentally investigates the influence of crimp in plain woven fabrics on ballistic performance, which is an important parameter in ballistic fabric engineering. The finite element method is used to model the plain woven fabrics subjected a high strain rate transverse impact. FE analysis shows that the fabric with a large crimp is prone to form high stress at the edge of the contact of the fabric with the projectile. This high stress leads to earlier failures of the primary yarns and accordingly the energy absorbed by such a fabric is less due to the short engaging time. In addition, longitudinal stress wave velocity is higher with lower levels of yarn crimp in the fabric and therefore the use of small crimp fabrics is beneficial to increasing energy absorbing capacity. Ballistic impact tests were conducted on the single layer panels, and the experimental results showed good agreement with the FE results under the same fabric structures and loading conditions.