Journal Menu
By: Shah Nusrat Jahan Shanta and Abdus Sattar Mollah.
1 Research Assistant, Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering, Military Institute of Science and Technology (MIST), Mirpur Cantonment, Mirpur, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
2 Professor, Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering, Military Institute of Science and Technology (MIST), Mirpur Cantonment, Mirpur, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
This study presents a detailed numerical investigation of hybrid composite armors as a cost-effective and lightweight solution for ballistic protection. With increasing the demand of protective systems that ensure high mobility with light weight and cost-effective armor without compromising safety. Traditional steel armor has already proven to be a reliable protection system but the main problem is its mobility. To address this issue, the work focuses on composite material as armor. In this study steel, Kevlar 29 and cement-fiber were arranged in different stacking sequences and thicknesses and simulated using ANSYS Explicit Dynamics. A total of eight samples were designed and subjected to projectile impacts to analyze their deformation responses. This result demonstrates that both material type and layering sequence can influence the result. Also play critical roles in determining the ballistic resistance of the composite armor. Steel ensured superior stiffness and minimal deformation while Kevlar displayed higher flexibility and energy absorption but with greater displacement. Cement fiber showed moderate resistance. Importantly in the hybrid configurations, if steel is placed at the end part of the armor it significantly improves overall performance by reducing back-faced deformation. The model was validated against published data with a minimal error margin, to ensure the accuracy and reliability of this simulation process. The study underscores the importance of numerical modeling in optimizing armor design by reducing experimental costs and accelerating the development of advanced protective systems.
Composite armors, ANSYS, explicit dynamic, ballistic protection, cost effective, light weight
Citation:
Refrences:
1. Nayak N, Banerjee A, Sivaraman P. Ballistic impact response of ceramic-faced aramid laminated composites
against 7.62 mm armour piercing projectiles. Def Sci J. 2013;63(4):369–75. doi: 10.14429/dsj.63.2616.
2. Alkhatib F, Mahdi E, Dean A. Design and evaluation of hybrid composite plates for ballistic protection:
Experimental and numerical investigations. Polymers. 2021;13(9):1450. doi: 10.3390/polym13091450.
3. David NV, Gao X, Zheng JQ. Ballistic resistant body armor: Contemporary and prospective
materials and related protection mechanisms. Appl Mech Rev. 2009;62(5). doi: 10.1115/1.3124644.
4. Marques CLM, Kumar SR, Goswami C, Verma R. Numerical simulation of armor materials and optimization
using gray relational analysis. Mater Today Proc. 2020;44:4717–30. doi: 10.1016/j.matpr.2020.10.942.
5. Saleem I, Abed M, Ahmed P. Numerical and experimental study of hybrid composite body armor.
Eng Technol J. 2021;39(11):1681–7. Doi: 10.30684/etj.v39i11.2274.
6. Bandaru AK, Chavan VV, Ahmad S, Alagirusamy R, Bhatnagar N. Ballistic impact response of Kevlar®
reinforced thermoplastic composite armors. Int J Impact Eng. 2015;89:1–13. doi: 10.1016/j.ijimpeng.2015.10.014.
7. Gower H, Cronin D, Plumtree A. Ballistic impact response of laminated composite panels. Int J
Impact Eng. 2007;35(9):1000–8. doi: 10.1016/j.ijimpeng.2007.07.007.
8. Sarhan RA, Franklyn M, Lee PVS. The use of finite element models for backface deformation and body
armour design: A systematic review. Comput Methods Biomech Biomed Engin. 2025;28(1):121–43.
doi: 10.1080/10255842.2023.2281275.
9. Kukshal, Mishra V. Numerical analysis for estimating ballistic performance of armour material.
Mater Today Proc. 2021;44:4731–7. doi: 10.1016/j.matpr.2020.11.221.
10. Mishra V, Kukshal V. Numerical analysis for estimating ballistic performance of armour material.
Mater Today Proc. 2021;44:4731–7. doi: 10.1016/j.matpr.2020.11.221.
11. Li D, Huang F, Ren B, Zhang W, Xiong J, Zhou B, et al. Ballistic analysis of high-performance
armor steel by numerical simulation. Sci Rep. 2024;14(1). doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-62482-5.
12. Shanta SNJ, Mollah AS. Structural and thermal analysis of fuel rod of VVER-1200 nuclear reactor using
ANSYS software. MIST Int J Sci Technol. 2025;13:65–71. doi: 10.47981/j.mijst.13(01)2025.510(65–71).
13. Bandaru AK, Vetiyatil L, Ahmad S. The effect of hybridization on the ballistic impact behavior of hybrid
composite armors. Compos Part B Eng. 2015;76:300–19. doi: 10.1016/j.compositesb.2015.03.012.
14. Soydan AM, Tunaboylu B, Elsabagh AG, Sarı AK, Akdeniz R. Simulation and experimental tests of ballistic
impact on composite laminate armor. Adv Mater Sci Eng. 2018;2018:1. doi: 10.1155/2018/4696143.