Ballistics of Transversely Impacted Fibers

Abstract

The rate-independent theory of transverse impact of textile fibers is reviewed and cast in a form that provides convenient preliminary guidance to designers of impact-resistant textile structures. It is shown that energy-absorption rate increases monotonically with fiber modulus, but that decreased ductility at high modulus may result in an optimum fiber stiffness for transverse critical velocity. A reaction-rate fraction model is suggested as a means of rationalizing the observed variation in experimental transverse critical velocities.