Influence of yarn gripping on the ballistic performance of woven fabrics from ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene fibre

It has been established that yarn–yarn friction plays an important role in absorbing impact energy in soft body armour. Yarn gripping within the fabric has been devised to increase the inter-yarn friction, using the lightweight ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) fibre. This paper reports the methods and results of an investigation on the mechanisms that enable higher impact energy absorption of woven fabrics with designed yarn gripping. Numerical and experimental models were used to study ballistic impact on soft textile panels. The numerical predictions suggested that the fabric is able to absorb more impact energy with enhanced yarn–yarn friction. It was also predicted from the FE simulation that further increases of the coefficient of friction beyond μ = 0.4 reduces the fabric’s capability to absorb impact energy. Three variations of the plain woven fabric were employed to increase the inter-yarn friction within the fabric, which are leno insertion, double weft and weft cramming. The yarn pull-out tests demonstrated increased resistance against the pull-out force for the fabrics with enhanced yarn gripping. This research illustrated the feasibility of creating novel fabric structures for effective enhancement of yarn–yarn friction.