A Comparative Study on the Perforation Resistance of Nacre-Like, Layered, and Encased Ceramic/Polyurea Composite Plates Subjected to Low-Velocity Impacts by Differently Shaped Impactors

The perforation resistance of ceramic/polyurea composite plates of different structural configurations subjected to low-velocity impacts by differently shaped impactors were investigated. First, a perforation experiment on polyurea sheet and a bending fracture experiment on ceramic sheet were performed, and their numerical simulations were carried out to validate constitutive models and parameters for the polyurea and ceramic materials. Then, numerical models for nacre-like, layered, and encased ceramic/polyurea composite plates subjected to impacts by conical, hemispherical, and blunt impactors were developed. Numerical simulations were conducted to compare failure modes and energy absorption characteristics of the three kinds of composite plates. Numerical results showed that the nacre-like plate was superior to the other two composite ones in energy absorption, especially under the impact by blunt impactor.