Photographic Investigation of High-Speed Missile Impact upon Nylon Fabric

Abstract

Single layers of nylon fabric have been subjected to high-speed missile impact at velocities ranging from 116 to 537 m/sec. The transient responses of the fabric and missile have been observed by high-speed photography. The photo graphs have shown that fabric deformation was pyramidal before penetration and more conical after penetration. The photographs have permitted measurements of the missile exit velocity from the fabric, the missile energy loss due to interaction with the fabric, the time required to penetrate the fabric, and the size and growth rate of the resultant fabric deformation cones. These results, together with a simplified mechanical model, have indicated that the broken orthogonal yarns within the deformation cone could account for 50 100% of the observed missile energy loss. In addition, during penetration of the fabric, the measured average cone-radial velocities in the fabric ranged from 50 to 80% of the values derived from fiber impact theory.