A numerical investigation of the influence of yarn mechanical and physical properties on the ballistic impact behavior of a Kevlar KM2® woven fabric

A numerical of impact ballistic on a single-ply of plain-woven fabric Kevlar KM2®, which is clamped at four edges is simulated using the explicit nonlinear FEA code with different yarn material properties such as yarn density and longitudinal Young's modulus. In this work, the effect of these properties on fabric ballistic performance is parametrically studied. The result shows that the yarn density does not affect significantly the ballistic performance of fabric. The effect of yarn's longitudinal Young's modulus is more complex: a higher value of longitudinal Young's modulus decelerates the projectile at a higher rate, but this deceleration is not significant. In addition, a very high value of longitudinal Young's modulus causes a premature failure in the primary yarns and a perforation of the fabric even with a low impact velocity.