Effect of Fabric Structure Hybrid on Penetration Resistance Performance of Fiber Reinforced Composite

To enhance the penetration resistance performance of fiber-reinforced composite materials and improve the safety of military equipment, this study explores the influence and mechanism of fabric structure hybridization on the penetration resistance performance of fiber-reinforced composite materials, focusing on failure modes, damage evolution, and energy absorption. Through ballistic penetration experiments and multiscale calculations, the influence mechanism of the mixed structure of plain weave and satin weave on the penetration resistance performance of aramid/thermoplastic polyurethanes (TPU) composite materials was analyzed, and the residual velocity, damage mechanism, energy absorption characteristics, and failure morphology were investigated. The results indicate that plain weave fabrics provide high in-plane stiffness, while satin weave fabrics facilitate out of plane deformation and energy dissipation. The hybrid structure with plain weave fabric as the front surface and satin weave fabric as the back surface has better penetration resistance: the front layer (plain weave) passivates bullets and disperses impact energy, while the back layer (satin weave) maximizes energy dissipation. Among them, the aramid/TPU composite material arranged in the order of K₆D₂₁ has the best performance, with a residual velocity of 455.81 m/s and a specific energy absorption of 28.51 J/(kg·m²), which improved by 9.50% compared to the control group. By analyzing the shapley additive explanations (SHAP) values of multi feature parameters, the structural design of composite materials can be optimized based on fabric structure, fiber properties, and hybrid layers. Combined with multi-scale numerical calculations and experimental verification, the database can be expanded to provide a solid theoretical basis for improving the performance of composite materials.