Ballistic performance of a composite armor reinforced by alumina balls with various matrix materials: A numerical study
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Jun 30, 2025
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Abstract
This study observed the ballistic performance of the composite armor reinforced by an alumina ball with various matrix materials. The investigation was conducted numerically to establish an effective design of the composite armor for protection against a 7.62 mm bullet impacting at 800 m/s speed. Al 5083, Ti-6Al-4V, Weldox 700E, and Q235 steel, along with ceramic balls acting as reinforcement, make up the composite. The simulation was set in a 3D model and performed using Abaqus finite element software. The outputs of the simulation present the residual velocity, the depth of penetration, the optimized weight-to-penetration depth ratio, and the deformation pattern. The results indicated that the composite armor with ceramic ball reinforcement produced the optimum design using a matrix of Ti-6Al-4V. The matrix with a higher Young modulus has a higher velocity decrease. The matrix with a higher plastic equivalent strength has a higher resistance to the projectile deformation, marked by mushrooming during its penetration. On the contrary, the matrix with a lower plastic equivalent strength forms a ductile hole. This work guides to determination of the optimal design of composite armor containing ceramic balls as reinforcement, considering the different matrix materials.
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References
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[26] T. Tjahjono, T. W. B. Riyadi, B. W. Febriantoko, Suprapto, and T. Sujitno, Hardness optimization based on nitriding time and gas pressure in the plasma nitriding of aluminium alloys, vol. 961 MSF. 2019. doi: 10.4028/www.scientific.net/MSF.961.112.
[2] R. Widyorini, N. H. Sari, M. Setiyo, and G. Refiadi, “The Role of Composites for Sustainable Society and Industry,” Mechanical Engineering for Society and Industry, vol. 1, no. 2, pp. 48–53, 2021, doi: 10.31603/mesi.6188.
[3] Y. X. Zhai, H. Wu, and Q. Fang, “Impact resistance of armor steel/ceramic/UHPC layered composite targets against 30CrMnSiNi2A steel projectiles,” International Journal of Impact Engineering, vol. 154, no. September 2020, 2021, doi: 10.1016/j.ijimpeng.2021.103888.
[4] W. zhan Wang, Z. gang Chen, S. shan Feng, and T. yong Zhao, “Experimental study on ceramic balls impact composite armor,” Defence Technology, vol. 16, no. 2, pp. 408–416, 2020, doi: 10.1016/j.dt.2019.09.004.
[5] N. Kang, J. Lai, J. Zhou, L. Du, and J. Cao, “Effect of ceramic balls/UHPC panel on impact resistance of composite armor,” International Journal of Impact Engineering, vol. 178, no. April, p. 104623, 2023, doi: 10.1016/j.ijimpeng.2023.104623.
[6] J. Liu, C. Wu, J. Li, J. Fang, Y. Su, and R. Shao, “Ceramic balls protected ultra-high performance concrete structure against projectile impact–A numerical study,” International Journal of Impact Engineering, vol. 125, no. June 2018, pp. 143–162, 2019, doi: 10.1016/j.ijimpeng.2018.11.006.
[7] A. Z. Ziva, Y. K. Suryana, Y. S. Kurniadianti, R. Ragadhita, A. B. D. Nandiyanto, and T. Kurniawan, “Recent Progress on the Production of Aluminum Oxide (Al2O3) Nanoparticles: A Review,” Mechanical Engineering for Society and Industry, vol. 1, no. 2, pp. 54–77, 2021, doi: 10.31603/mesi.5493.
[8] H. Dahlan, “the Effect of Critical Traction in Cohesive Zone Model for Fatigue Crack Growth Retardatio,” Media Mesin: Majalah Teknik Mesin, vol. 17, no. 2, pp. 44–54, 2016, doi: 10.23917/mesin.v17i2.2883.
[9] A. Ansari, T. Akbari, and M. R. Pishbijari, “Investigation on the ballistic performance of the aluminum matrix composite armor with ceramic balls reinforcement under high velocity impact,” Defence Technology, no. xxxx, pp. 1–19, 2023, doi: 10.1016/j.dt.2023.01.015.
[10] T. Akbari, A. Ansari, and M. Rahimi Pishbijari, “Influence of aluminum alloys on protection performance of metal matrix composite armor reinforced with ceramic particles under ballistic impact,” Ceramics International, vol. 49, no. 19, pp. 30937–30950, 2023, doi: 10.1016/j.ceramint.2023.07.046.
[11] T. W. B. Riyadi and W. A. Siswanto, “The use of Abaqus for teaching the development of cavity defects in forward extrusion processes,” International Journal of Mechanical Engineering Education, vol. 36, no. 3, pp. 221–224, 2008, doi: 10.7227/IJMEE.36.3.5.
[12] Mujiyono, H. K. Perdana, D. Nurhadiyanto, V. H. L. Saputri, and S. A. Hassan, “Analysis of Load and Contact Mechanic on the Composite Structural: Case Study on Gfrp Composite,” EUREKA, Physics and Engineering, vol. 2024, no. 4, pp. 133–143, 2024, doi: 10.21303/2461-4262.2024.003269.
[13] J. Chen, W. Chen, S. Chen, G. Zhou, and T. Zhang, “Shock Hugoniot and Mie-Grüneisen EOS of TiAl alloy: A molecular dynamics approach,” Computational Materials Science, vol. 174, no. January, p. 109495, 2020, doi: 10.1016/j.commatsci.2019.109495.
[14] A. Rashed, M. Yazdani, A. A. Babaluo, and P. Hajizadeh Parvin, “Investigation on high-velocity impact performance of multi-layered alumina ceramic armors with polymeric interlayers,” Journal of Composite Materials, vol. 50, no. 25, pp. 3561–3576, 2016, doi: 10.1177/0021998315622982.
[15] Y. Zhang, J. C. Outeiro, and T. Mabrouki, “On the selection of Johnson-Cook constitutive model parameters for Ti-6Al-4V using three types of numerical models of orthogonal cutting,” Procedia CIRP, vol. 31, pp. 112–117, 2015, doi: 10.1016/j.procir.2015.03.052.
[16] S. Dey, T. Børvik, O. S. Hopperstad, J. R. Leinum, and M. Langseth, “The effect of target strength on the perforation of steel plates using three different projectile nose shapes,” International Journal of Impact Engineering, vol. 30, no. 8–9, pp. 1005–1038, 2004, doi: 10.1016/j.ijimpeng.2004.06.004.
[17] F. lin Zhu, Y. Chen, and G. li Zhu, “Numerical simulation study on penetration performance of depleted Uranium (DU) alloy fragments,” Defence Technology, vol. 17, no. 1, pp. 50–55, 2021, doi: 10.1016/j.dt.2020.01.002.
[18] M. N. Ibrahim, W. A. Siswanto, and A. M. A. Zaidi, “Computational issues in the simulation of high speed ballistic impact: A Review,” Applied Mechanics and Materials, vol. 315, no. April 2013, pp. 762–767, 2013, doi: 10.4028/www.scientific.net/AMM.315.762.
[19] A. Ghavidel, M. Rashki, H. Ghohani Arab, and M. Azhdary Moghaddam, “Reliability mesh convergence analysis by introducing expanded control variates,” Frontiers of Structural and Civil Engineering, vol. 14, no. 4, pp. 1012–1023, 2020, doi: 10.1007/s11709-020-0631-6.
[20] J. He, L. He, and B. Yang, “Analysis on the impact response of fiber-reinforced composite laminates: An emphasis on the FEM simulation,” Science and Engineering of Composite Materials, vol. 26, no. 1, pp. 1–11, 2019, doi: 10.1515/secm-2017-0222.
[21] T. L. Chu, C. Ha-Minh, and A. Imad, “A numerical investigation of the influence of yarn mechanical and physical properties on the ballistic impact behavior of a Kevlar KM2® woven fabric,” Composites Part B: Engineering, vol. 95, pp. 144–154, 2016, doi: 10.1016/j.compositesb.2016.03.018.
[22] E. W. Lui, A. E. Medvedev, D. Edwards, M. Qian, M. Leary, and M. Brandt, “Microstructure modification of additive manufactured Ti-6Al-4V plates for improved ballistic performance properties,” Journal of Materials Processing Technology, vol. 301, no. November 2021, p. 117436, 2022, doi: 10.1016/j.jmatprotec.2021.117436.
[23] W. Renpu, “Perforating,” Advanced Well Completion Engineering, pp. 295–363, 2011, doi: 10.1016/b978-0-12-385868-9.00010-5.
[24] C. Huang et al., “Analytical model of penetration depth and energy dissipation considering impact position,” International Journal of Impact Engineering, vol. 191, no. March, pp. 1–14, 2024, doi: 10.1016/j.ijimpeng.2024.104997.
[25] P. Kędzierski, A. Morka, S. Stanisławek, and Z. Surma, “Numerical modeling of the large strain problem in the case of mushrooming projectiles,” International Journal of Impact Engineering, vol. 135, no. September 2019, 2020, doi: 10.1016/j.ijimpeng.2019.103403.
[26] T. Tjahjono, T. W. B. Riyadi, B. W. Febriantoko, Suprapto, and T. Sujitno, Hardness optimization based on nitriding time and gas pressure in the plasma nitriding of aluminium alloys, vol. 961 MSF. 2019. doi: 10.4028/www.scientific.net/MSF.961.112.