Investigating ballistic impact on fabric targets with gripping yarns

The purpose of the research is to investigate the fabric structure (with gripping yarns) in influencing ballistic performance aiming to improve the ballistic performance of the currently used body armour materials. Thirteen different fabrics having gripping yarn were designed along fabric warp and/or weft directions. Their ballistic performance in terms of energy absorption has been studied and comparisons made among the single layered fabrics and between the two double layered fabrics, as well as to the conventional used a plain woven fabric for both cases. It was found that fabrics with gripping yarns have improved fabric ballistic performance. The inter-jointed two-layer fabric performed better than the un-jointed two-layer fabric, and it showed a 16.6 % increase in the energy absorption. The implication of the research is that body armour can be made lighter without reducing ballistic impact performance by using gripping yarns. © 2013 The Korean Fiber Society and Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht.