Design, Performance and Fit of Fabrics for Female Body Armour

234 Pages·2011·15.99 MB·English

Design, Performance and Fit of Fabrics
for Female Body Armour

A thesis submitted to the University of Manchester for the degree of
Doctor of Philosophy
in the Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences

2011

Dan Yang

School of Materials
List of Contents

List of Contents 2
List of Tables 8
List of Figures 10
List of Publications 15
Abstract 16
Declaration 17
Copy Statement 18
Acknowledgement 19

Chapter 1 Introduction 21
1.1 The Problem 23
1.2 Aims and Objectives 24
1.3 Thesis Layout 27

Chapter 2 Literature Review 29
2.1 Introduction of Body Armour 29
2.1.1 History 29
2.1.2 Categories 31
2.1.2.1 Soft body armour 31
2.1.2.2 Hard body armour 37
2.1.3 Functions 38
2.1.3.1 Ballistic resistance 38
2.1.3.2 Stab resistance 43
2.1.3.3 Other functions 44
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2.2 Ballistic Performance of Body Armour 45
2.2.1 Materials 45
2.2.1.1 Aramid 45
2.2.1.2 High-performance polyethylene 47
2.2.1.3 Potential materials 48
2.2.2 Structures 49
2.2.2.1 Woven structures 50
2.2.2.2 Nonwoven structures 52
2.2.2.3 Multi-component structures 53
2.2.3 Others 54
2.3 Female Body Armour Design Technologies: State-of-the-art 55
2.3.1 Unisex tailoring 55
2.3.2 Cutting and stitching 56
2.3.3 Folding 57
2.3.4 Overlapping 58
2.3.5 Moulding 58
2.4 Possible Technologies for Potential Female Body Armour 60
2.4.1 Three-dimensional dome-shaped fabrics 60
2.4.1.1 Shape weaving 61
2.4.1.2 Varying take-up rate 62
2.4.1.3 Employing woven structures 64
2.4.2 Angle-interlock woven fabrics 67
2.4.2.1 Structure 67
2.4.2.2 Properties 69
2.4.2.3 Mouldability 70
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2.4.2.4 Ballistic resistance 71
2.5 Remarks 72

Chapter 3 Preliminary Work: Dome-shaped Fabrics for Female Body
Armour Panels 73
3.1 Design Principle 74
3.2 Design of Dome-shaped Fabrics 75
3.2.1 Fabric settings 75
3.2.1.1 Warp and weft densities of fabrics 75
3.2.1.2 Arrangements of dome-shaped patterns on the fabric 76
3.2.2 ScotWeave CAD software 77
3.2.3 Setting of dome-shaped pattern 78
3.2.3.1 Size of dome-shaped pattern 78
3.2.3.2 Design groups 79
3.3 Manufacture 89
3.4 Manufacturing Phenomenon 90
3.4.1 Curved cloth fell 90
3.4.2 Slack warp ends 91
3.4.3 Loose selvedges 91
3.4.4 Weave compatibility 92
3.5 Manufactured Fabrics 93
3.6 Measurement and Analysis of Dome Formability 94
3.6.1 Tools for measurement 95
3.6.2 Sample details 95
3.6.3 Investigations 97
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3.6.3.1 Categories of groups 97
3.6.3.2 Group 1. weaves V.S. dome formability 101
3.6.3.3 Group 2. size of dome V.S. dome formability 111
3.6.3.4 Group 3. radius ratio V.S. dome formability 113
3.6.3.5 Group 4. numbers of circles V.S. dome formability 114
3.6.3.6 Group 5. weft linear density V.S. dome formability 116
3.6.3.7 Group 6. weft density V.S. dome formability 119
3.6.3.8 Group 7. shrinkage V.S. dome formability 120
3.7 Remarks 123

Chapter 4 Mouldability of Angle-interlock Woven Fabrics and Its
Comparison with Dome-shaped Fabrics 128
1.1 Theoretical Analysis 129
4.1.1 Shearing 129
4.1.2 Locking angle 130
4.1.3 Shear rigidity 131
4.2 Empirical Analysis 132
4.3 Remarks 139

Chapter 5 Ballistic Performance of Angle-interlock Woven Fabrics 141
5.1 Background 141
5.1.1 Energy absorption mechanism 142
5.1.2 Loss of kinetic energy 144

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5.2 Energy Absorption of Angle-interlock Woven Fabrics in Comparison to Other
Fabric Structures 145
5.2.1 Fabrics 145
5.2.1.1 Structures 145
5.2.1.2 Specimen details 147
5.2.2 Experiments 149
5.2.2.1 Energy loss test 149
5.2.3 Test results and analysis 152
5. 3 Parametric Study of Ballistic Performance of Angle-interlock Woven Fabrics
156
5.3.1 The fabrics 156
5.3.2 Experiments 157
5.3.3 Some observations 157
5.3.4 Test results and analysis 160
5.3.4.1 Data processing 160
5.3.4.2 Analysis 163
5.4 Ballistic Evaluation of Angle-interlock Woven Fabric Panels 172
5.4.1 Description of the ballistic test 172
5.4.2 Results and analysis 175
5.5 Remarks 178

Chapter 6 Pattern Creation for Seamless Front Female Body Armour
Panel using Angle-interlock Woven Fabrics 180
6.1 Key Problem 181
6.2 Construction of Mathematical Model 182
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6.2.1 Block projection 183
6.2.2 Block for the bust area 190
6.2.2.1 Model One 190
6.2.2.2 Model Two 192
6.2.2.3 Model Three 194
6.3 Establishment of a Mathematical Model for Pattern Generation 197
6.3.1 Geometric data for breast 198
6.3.2 Mathematical equations 200
6.3.2.1 Portion 1 triangular prism representing the upper half of the bust area
200
6.3.2.2 Portion 2 cone surface at the end of the triangular prism 202
6.3.2.3 Portion 3 One-eighth spherical segment 205
6.3.2.4 Portion 4 a quarter of cylinder for the lower half of the bust area 207
6.3.2.5 Portion 5 rest segment 208
6.3.3 Model modification 209
6.4 Verification of the Model 211
6.5 Multi-layer Front Panel of Female Body Armour 212
6.6 Remarks 218

Chapter 7 Conclusion and Future Work 219
7.1 Conclusions 219
7.2 Future Work 222

References 223

Appendix 234

Words Count: 42555
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List of Tables

Table 2.1 Mechanical properties of various fabrics [31]……………………………… 35
Table 2.2 Weave structures [42]………………………………………………………. 35
Table 2.3 NIJ standard-0101.04 P-BFS performance test summary [47]…………….40
Table 2.4 HOSDB ballistic performance levels [46]…………………………………40
Table 2.5 Ballistic standards: (a) German Schutzklassen; (b) Russia-Gost 50744-95; (c)
CEN prEN ISO 14876-2 [48]…………………………………...…………………….41
Table 2.6 Description of Knife and Spike Protection Levels [49]……………………44
Table 2.7 3-layer fabric: stitching frequency f [130]…………………………………. 71
Table 2.8 Test results [130]…………………………………………………………… 71
Table 3.1 Specification of all samples………………………………………………… 96
Table 3.2 Categories of groups………………………………………………………... 98
Table 3.3 Data on dome depth when the weave sequence was changed……………. 101
Table 3.4 Data on dome depth when the weaves of the outer ring were changed…..103
Table 3.5 Data on dome depth when the weaves of the middle ring were changed for
Sample 1, Sample 5 and Sample 6………………………………………………….105
Table 3.6 Data on dome depth when the weaves of the middle ring were changed for
Sample 6, Sample 7 and Sample 8………………………………………………….106
Table 3.7 Data on dome depth when the weaves of the middle ring were changed for
Sample 5, Sample 9 and Sample 10…………………………………………………..108
Table 3.8 Data on dome depth when the weaves of the inner ring were changed...…..110
Table 3.9 Data on dome depth when the size of the dome was changed…112
Table 3.10 Data on dome depth when the radius ratio was changed………………….113
Table 3.11 Data on dome depth when the number of rings was changed…………. 115
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Table 3.12 Data on dome depth when the weft linear density and diameter of outer
circle in the warp direction were changed…………………………………………..116
Table 3.13 Data on dome depth when the weft density was changed………………119
Table 3.14 Diameters in warp and weft direction for Sample 1, Sample 3 and Sample
4 ………………………………………………………………………………………121
Table 4.1 Angle interlock fabrics made from polyester fibres [119]………………....133
Table 4.2 Dome-shaped fabrics made from polyester yarns………………………….135
Table 4.3 Angle-interlock woven fabrics made from Kevlar® fibres…………………138
Table 5.1 Specifications of various fabrics…………………………………………...147
Table 5.2 Fabric specifications………………………………………………………..157
Table 5.3 Ballistic results……………………………………………………………..161
Table 5.4 Technical data for the impact tests…………………………………………175
Table 6.1 Block projection: key points’ position…………………………………….187
Table 6.2 Block projection: coordinate movement (a) for UK sizing; (b) for European
sizing………………………………………………………………………………….188
Table 6.3 New block projection: (a) the coordinate movements with 2cm intervals; (b)
the coordinate values, (c) the illustration ……………………………………………..215

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List of Figures

Figure 1.1 Trends in officer homicides in the US, 1965-2000 [11]……………………22
Figure 2.1 Body armour: (a) covert vest; (b) overt vest [38]………………………… 32
Figure 2.2 Energy absorption properties of high performance fibres [39] …………….33
Figure 2.3 Kevlar: (a) molecular structure [41]; (b) filaments SEM [40] ……………..34
Figure 2.4 Polyethylene molecule [43] ………………………………………………..36
Figure 2.5 Poly (p-phenylene-2, 6-benzobisoxazole) molecule [44] …………………37
Figure 2.6 Typical test apparatus for ballistic testing [46]……………………………. 39
Figure 2.7 Typical test apparatus for knife and spike testing [49]……………………. 43
Figure2.8 lightweight but super-strong carbon nanotube filaments [87]……………... 48
Figure 2.9 Stitching types: (a) sewn only 2.5cm inside from the edges; (b) sewn 2.5cm
inside from the edges and in diamond shape;(c) sewn 2.5cm inside from the edges and
then with 5cm intervals in bias type [99] ……………………………………………..52
Figure 2.10 Female size measurements [110]………………………………………….56
Figure 2.11 Female body armour by folding [111] ……………………………………57
Figure 2.12 Female body armour by moulding, produced by Twaron [12] …………..59
Figure 2.13 Female body armour by moulding, produced by MC PRODUCTS [113] .59
Figure 2.14 Shape weaving [115]……………………………………………………....62
Figure 2.15 Fabric contact with the profile at its beginning and top positions [116]…..63
Figure 2.16 A dome-shaped hardened fabric [116]…………………………………….63
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Figure 2.17 Dome made of plain, twill, twilled hopsack, 8-end sateen weaves: (a)
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schematic diagram; (b) fabric sample [116]…………………………………………....65
Figure 2.18 Honeycomb weave structure [117]………………………………………..66
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