Investigation of the Effect of Ceramic/glass Fibre Sandwich Composite Subjected to Projectile Impact

Ceramic tiles are often preferred to prevent projectiles from penetrating lightweight armour systems. This study investigates the effect of projectile impact on the glass fibre-reinforced composite (GFRP) with ceramic sheet sandwich panels. In the experiments, using a single-stage gas gun, 15 mm hemispherical and conical projectiles were impacted on 140 × 140 mm sandwich plates at velocities of about 80 m/s. Four shots for each hemispherical and conical projectile were fired on, 4-layer GFRP layer, 2-layers of GFRP with ceramic core and 4-layers of GFRP with ceramic sheet totalling 32 samples. Perforated panels were investigated for damage using C-scan. The effect of adding the ceramic sheet was evident in the energy absorption of the laminate. In comparison between glass fibre laminate and glass fibre/ceramic sandwich panels, it was observed that the ballistic limit was enhanced by 10% with the addition of a ceramic sheet in the laminate. Further, it also shows that adding GFRP can improve the ballistic resistance of the proposed GFRP/ceramic composite sandwich.