Published at : 25 Jan 2024
Volume : IJtech
Vol 15, No 1 (2024)
DOI : https://doi.org/10.14716/ijtech.v15i1.6050
Salsabila Syifa | Composites Laboratory, Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universitas Indonesia, Kampus Baru UI, Depok 16424, Indonesia |
Myrna Ariaty | Composites Laboratory, Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universitas Indonesia, Kampus Baru UI, Depok 16424, Indonesia |
Anne Zulfia Syahrial | Composites Laboratory, Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universitas Indonesia, Kampus Baru UI, Depok 16424, Indonesia |
Agus Pramono | Department of Metallurgical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universitas Sultan Ageng Tirtayasa Jl. Jenderal Sudirman Km 3, Kotabumi, Cilegon, Banten 42435 Indonesia |
Military equipment
development, especially means of transportation, currently revolves around
material selection, which includes hybrid laminate composite as a prominent
material choice due to its strength-to-weight ratio. The hybrid laminate
composite was fabricated by involving aluminum alloy
7075-T6 sheets and Kevlar fabrics
that were introduced to shear thickening fluid (STF). STF was made by mixing
PEG-400, alumina nanoparticles, and ethanol in a certain ratio. The composites were fabricated using variations
of Kevlar layers of 8, 16, and 24 layers. Ballistic impact resistance of the hybrid laminate
composite was observed through a ballistic test that was performed according to
the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) 1080.01 level II standard. The energy
absorption of the composites was evaluated by analyzing the diameter of the
perforation. Additionally, the failure mode of the Al7075 matrix and Kevlar
fabric are discussed. The findings from ballistic testing indicated that the
addition of alumina nanoparticles into three variations of Kevlar layers in
hybrid laminate composite yielded the improvement of ballistic performance and
impact energy of the composites.
Alumina; Ballistic performance; Hybrid laminate composite; Shear thickening fluid
The
latest trend in the improvement of military equipment is focusing on the
development of material selection for ballistic protection, especially for
vehicles such as tanks. However, to produce an ideal tank, fuel consumption and
vehicle agility must be taken into consideration. In order to be used as an
armor material, the composite should have ballistic performance. The typical
steel used for armor material can be replaced by the aluminum alloy 7075-T6,
which has major applications in the military industry (Senthil et al., 2017). Studies prove that AA 7075-T6 has better ballistic performance compared
to AA 2024 and AA 6061(Yeter, 2018). To
further enhance the energy absorption ability, Kevlar, which is well-known for
its high strength and other mechanical properties that are comparable with
steel, was involved. A study demonstrates that a hybrid laminate composite
treated with nanoparticles increases energy absorption based on a ballistic test (Haro, Szpunar, and Odeshi, 2016a). Nanoparticles are used as the constituent of shear thickening fluid, which has a
special microstructural change that leads to an improvement in energy
absorption.
Shear
thickening fluid (STF) is a type of non-Newtonian fluid consisting of oxide
particles suspended in liquid polymers that respond to stress by increasing the
viscosity, which is widely known as a hydro clustering mechanism (Haro, Szpunar, and Odeshi, 2016a). This mechanism explains that upon exposure to a high
shear rate, nanoparticles cause repulsive loading by hydro clustering formation
that packs together temporarily, forming a chain-like shape (Kim et al., 2018).
Furthermore, this mechanism explains that particles are pushed together by
shear, and to move away from each other, and they must overcome the viscous
drag forces from small lubrication gaps between neighboring particles (Brown and Jaeger, 2014). The
principle implies that above a certain shear rate, the particles will grow into
clusters, and the clustering mechanism results in a rise in viscosity which in
turn acts like a solid (Hasanzadeh and
Mottaghitalab, 2014). The previous study
conducted by Agustha and Anne (2022) revealed that the impregnated
Kevlar in STF mixed with TiC consistently demonstrated a higher impact value
compared to composites with plain Kevlar due to the TiC nano-powder filling the
space between the impregnated Kevlar fibers. Thus, the presence of TiC boosted
the Kevlar’s ability to absorb energy. Also, TiC nano-powder also strengthened
the Kevlar’s structure so its fibers would be unlikely to undergo shear stress,
considering it would cost more energy to create fiber pull-out. Reinforcements
with about 20 to 50 layers of woven aramid fibers are required to produce a
high ballistic performance with respect to protection and energy absorption, in
which STF can be incorporated into the composite system to reduce the number of
layers of Kevlar fabric (Haro, Szpunar, and Odeshi, 2016b). Thus, the main objective of this research is to
observe the energy absorption behavior of hybrid laminate composite impregnated
with alumina, as a component of STF, with different thicknesses under both high
velocity and low-velocity impact along with the type of deformation both on the
aluminum surface and Kevlar fabric.
The method conducted in this research
consists of sample fabrication and experimental testing.
2.1. Sample
Fabrication
The process of fabricating hybrid laminate composites
started with the preparation of materials. Aluminum alloy 7075-T6 sheet and Kevlar-29
were cut into the size of 7.5 x 15 cm for ballistic test samples and 55 x 10 mm
dimensions for impact test samples. The chemical composition of aluminum alloy
was 90.5% Al, 5.1-6 .1% % Zn, 2.1-2.9% Mg, 1.2-2% % Cu, and max. 0.5% Fe. The
aluminum sheets’ surfaces were cleaned by using sandpaper and ethanol to remove
the impurities. The process was followed by the impregnation of Kevlar with
shear thickening fluid (STF) consisting of alumina with 99.9% purity and 50 nm
size supplied by Shanghai
Xinglu Chemical Tech Co, LTD and PEG-400 with a
1:2 ratio following (Haro, Szpunar, and Odeshi, 2016a). The formulation is shown in Tables 1 and 2.
Table 1 Shear Thickening Fluid Formulation for Ballistic Test Sample
Kevlar Layers |
Alumina
(g) |
PEG-400
(ml) |
Ethanol (ml) |
8 |
- |
- |
- |
16 |
- |
- |
- |
24 |
- |
- |
- |
8 |
10 |
20 |
20 |
16 |
20 |
40 |
40 |
24 |
30 |
60 |
60 |
STF was
produced by mixing an appropriate amount of alumina nanoparticles with
polyethylene glycol (PEG-400) by using a magnetic stirrer for 1 hour at the
speed of 1200 RPM. The process was continued by adding ethanol to the mixture
and stirring again for another 1 hour. Kevlar fabrics that had been cut into
desired dimensions were impregnated with STF. This step was followed by drying
for 72 hours at room temperature to let the ethanol dry up (Haro, Szpunar, and Odeshi, 2016a). The composite assembly was done with the
configuration shown in Figure 1. The hand lay-up method was used in the process
of composite assembly. The adhesive used was a mixture of epoxy resin
(Bisphenol A) and hardener with a ratio of 2:1. Pressure of 1600 Pa was given
to the composite for 24 hours at room temperature (Haro, Szpunar, and Odeshi, 2016a).
Table 2 Shear
Thickening Fluid Formulation for Impact Test Sample
Kevlar Layers |
Alumina
(g) |
PEG-400
(ml) |
Ethanol (ml) |
8 |
- |
- |
- |
16 |
- |
- |
- |
24 |
- |
- |
- |
8 |
1.47 |
2.94 |
2.94 |
16 |
2.94 |
5.88 |
5.88 |
24 |
4.41 |
8.82 |
8.82 |
Figure 1 Configuration of AA7075/Kevlar-Al2O3 Hybrid
Laminate Composite
2.2. Experimental Texting
2.2.1.
Microstructural Analysis and Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) Spectrometry
Microstructural analysis was carried out
on both impregnated and non-impregnated Kevlar samples to observe the
dispersion of alumina nanoparticles using a scanning electron microscope (SEM).
FTIR analysis was also performed on both samples to observe their respective
functional groups. Both SEM imaging and FTIR analysis were conducted at the
Center for Material Processing and Failure Analysis at Universitas Indonesia.
2.2.2.
Ballistic Test
A
ballistic impact test is categorized as a high-speed impact test that causes
local response on targets due to insufficient time to distribute the energy.
The test was performed by using a gun and projectile according to the NIJ
1080.01 standard level II, which are handgun (P1) and 9 x 19 mm projectile,
named Parabellum, weighed 8 grams with a hemispherical tip. The initial
velocity was 380 m/s with a 10 m distance. The energy absorbed by targets can
be calculated by Equation 1 and 2 from the difference
between the initial kinetic energy and the final kinetic energy as follows:
2.2.3. Impact Test
The
impact test is categorized as low-velocity impact test leading to the global
response. The test was performed by using the Charpy method according to ASTM
E23. The maximum energy exerted by the pendulum was 300 J.
3.1. Analysis of Nanoparticles Presence and
Dispersion
FTIR
spectra of non-impregnated samples show several major absorption bands at
wavelengths 3310.73, 1638.48, 1538.25, and 1303.33 cm-1, presented
in Figure 2. The wavelength of 3310.73 cm-1 corresponds to the
presence of the N-H group, followed by the wavelength of 1638.48 cm-1,
which indicates the presence of the amide carbonyl functional group (Ibrahim, Habib, and Jabrah, 2020). The wavelength of 1538.25 cm-1 is
assigned as an N-H bond, while the peak at 1303.33 cm-1 represents
the bonds of C-N and C-H bending (Ibrahim, Habib, and Jabrah, 2020).
As
compared to non-impregnated Kevlar, the impregnated sample show peaks at
3393.36, 2876.31, 1643.14, 1092.12, and 511.31 cm-1, shown in Figure
2. The peak at 3393.36 cm-1 is assigned as the terminal hydroxyl
group of PEG since the impregnated Kevlar contains PEG as the constituent of
STF (Gebregergs, 2018). The peaks at 2876.31, 1643.14, and 1092.17 cm-1 are
responsible for the presence of C-H bands, C=O stretching, and C-O-C (Gebregergs,
2018; Chieng et al., 2014; Polu and Kumar, 2011). The other prominent peak is at 511.31 cm-1, which is
assigned to the Al-O bond, indicating the presence of alumina (Nila
and Radha, 2018; Afruz and Tafreshi, 2014).
The dispersion of nanoparticles was observed
under a scanning electron microscope, and the results are shown in Figure 3.
Figures 3a and 3b demonstrate that individual Kevlar strands are arranged
neatly, but some vacancies are present between them. These vacancies can lead
to lower strength at a macroscopic scale. On the other hand, Figures 3c and 3d
illustrate the presence of alumina nanoparticles that have agglomerated with a
size of 350 nm, filling in the vacancies and covering some areas on the surface
of Kevlar fibers due to their nanoscale size.
The
effect of alumina nanoparticles' presence resulted in less amount of void,
which increased the strength and energy absorption ability. This also
facilitated stronger bonding of Kevlar fiber layers leading to stronger
structure (Haro, Szpunar, and Odeshi, 2016a). The impregnation can
strengthen fiber/matrix bonding and serve as a barrier to crack propagation,
which in turn increases the penetration resistance (Haro, Szpunar, and Odeshi, 2016a).
It
is apparent from Figure 3 that there are some agglomerated alumina
nanoparticles surrounding Kevlar fibers. Nanoparticles have high surface area
due to their smaller size, which leads to the increase in the Van der Waal
attractive force on the particle surface, which attracts other particles to
form a cluster that is referred to as the agglomeration process (Ilyas, Pendyala,
and Marneni, 2016). The small size of nanoparticles brings both advantages and disadvantages,
which is correlated to the high surface area. The disadvantage that can be seen
in Figure 3 is the attractive interaction between the particles, resulting in
agglomeration (Ashraf et al., 2018). Another study explains that nanoparticles
have an extremely high specific surface area, which makes them easy to
agglomerate (Zhu and Ou, 2014).
3.2. Analysis of
Kevlar Layer Amount and STF Impregnation to Ballistic Resistance
Figure 4a shows that the addition of Kevlar by 8 layers decreases the diameter of perforation by 5-7.3% within the category of non-impregnated and impregnated composite. In addition, the presence of alumina nanoparticles due to the impregnation process decreased the diameter of perforation by 14.9-16.9% for the same amount of Kevlar layers compared to non-impregnated ones. It can be explained that the increase in thickness increased the energy absorption since more fibers need to be broken, which leads to higher accumulative energy absorption from each layer (Liu et al., 2018).
Figure 2 FTIR Spectra of
Non-Impregnated and Impregnated Sample
Research shows that the increase in thickness leads to an increase in
energy absorption ability (Talib et al., 2012). The
presence of STF that contained alumina nanoparticles also contributed to the
perforation diameter. STF has such a mechanism that can resist the perforation
when it is subjected to the projectile. Owing to the mechanism of hydro cluster
formation, the viscosity of STF increases significantly in an instant. Hence,
the high-viscosity fluid, in which the clusters enhance the hydrodynamic
stress, is able to resist the energy to perforate the target (Haro, Szpunar, and Odeshi, 2016b).
The other parameter that can evaluate the ballistic performance is the
depth of penetration, presented in Figure 4b. The measurement of penetration
depth could only be done for impregnated samples as the non-impregnated samples
were not penetrated well. The general trend for depth of penetration is
increasing with the increase of Kevlar layers.
The low depth of penetration implies that the sample has less resistance
to projectile penetration (Haro, Szpunar, and Odeshi, 2016a). In principle, as the number of layers increases, the composite is able
to withstand energy exerted by projectiles. The energy received by the
composite will be distributed within the composite. As a result, the energy
absorption, which in this case is indicated by the depth of penetration, will
be higher.
The depth of penetration is proportional to the energy absorbed, meaning
that higher energy absorption can be observed by the high depth of penetration (Haro, Szpunar, and Odeshi, 2016a).
However, the depth of penetration increases significantly for the 16-layers
sample due to the presence of severely deformed parts. The deformed part was
also included in the measurement as it occurred in the site where the depth of
penetration could be measured. Meanwhile, the deformation in a 24-layers sample
was not so severe. The difference in the severity of deformation can explain by
the fact that although it had a lower depth of penetration than that of a
16-layers sample, the 24-layers sample had better resistance to a projectile,
which will be further discussed in the next section. This shows that the energy
absorption in a 24-layers sample was better as compared to a 16-layers sample.
3.3. Analysis of
Deformation Behavior of Ballistic Targets
It can be
compared that severe delamination took place in non-impregnated samples, while
impregnated samples experienced less severe delamination, which mostly occurs
at the front layers only. Delamination, which is shown in Figure 5a, b has such
a characteristic where the constituent layers of composites are detached after
being imposed to load. Delamination is assumed as an effect of interlaminar
stress, and other theories state that delamination is a type of failure that
occurs following the cracking of the matrix. The crack produces stress at the
interface between the layers, which leads to delamination (Stefan et al., 2020).
Delamination has such a mechanism in which a fraction of compressive stress is
reflected and becomes tensile stress, and the tensile wave causes crack
initiation (Mohotti et al., 2013).
Figure 3 SEM Observation Images of Non-Impregnated
Kevlar (a,b) and impregnated Kevlar (c,d)
Figure 4 Graphs of ballistic test: Diameter of Perforation (a); and Depth of
Penetration (b)
However, impregnated samples with 24 layers of Kevlar did not experience
delamination, as shown in Figure 5c. In impregnated samples, the clusters work
to enhance hydrodynamic stress by increasing the viscosity in the suspension
during impacts which contribute to the increase in delamination resistance as
well as resistance to posterior crack propagation through load distribution
between aluminum, resin, and the Kevlar fiber (Haro, Szpunar, and Odeshi, 2016b). In this
case, the major delamination mode is a combination of adhesion and cohesion
failure in which the adhesive layer remains on both surfaces of the Kevlar and
aluminum sheet. As seen in Figure 5, the adhesion/cohesion delamination was
dominated by adhesive failure. Furthermore, a study explains that delamination
in impregnated samples is less intense since the targets have better adhesion
with the aluminum sheet, resulting in more ductility and better resistance
against projectile penetration.
Macroscopical
photography was performed to better understand the phenomenon that cannot be
seen from the outside part of the impregnated samples. Petalling can be seen in
Figures 6a, b, and c, where the frontmost aluminum sheet created an open petal
shape. This shape was formed due to the compressive load of the projectile that
pushed the aluminum sheet to allow it to pass. The other type of deformation is
plugging which can be seen in Figures 6b and c. It occurred in the second sheet
of aluminum, which means that a fraction of the energy has been absorbed by the
front layer. Normally, plugging results in the detachment of the metal part,
but there is no evidence of such a failure in the sample. Instead, the sheet
was pushed back by the projectile as a mechanism of energy absorption.
Deformation due to compressive load from the projectile also took place at the
back surface of the samples, known as bulging. Bulging occurs due to the
remaining energy of the projectile that was absorbed by the backmost aluminum
sheet. However, the energy was not sufficient to penetrate through it and only
created a protruding spot in the sheet. Bulging can be seen clearly in Figure
6a. It is observed that bulging occurred in 8 and 16-layers composites. Figure
7 presents the back part of impregnated samples to better observe bulging.
Figure 5 Delamination
in 8-layers Non-Impregnated (a); Impregnated (b); 24-layers impregnated
Another thing that can be taken into consideration is the shape of the
projectile nose. Research shows that a hemispherical nose shape tends to
stretch the Kevlar fabric to failure instead of cutting through it by slipping
through the fabric and pushing it against the other layer (Khodadadi et al., 2019). The
stretching of Kevlar in the ballistic sample is shown in Figure 8. Due to its
high tensile strength, Kevlar is able to withstand the stretching effect from
the projectile.