Ballistic resistance of the carbon nanotube fibres reinforced composites - Numerical study

The numerical investigations were carried out to determine the ballistic resistance of the carbon nanotube (CNT) fibres reinforced composites. In this paper, the fundamental studies of the reinforcement characteristics are presented. It includes the single fibre mechanical and geometric properties as well as fibres distribution and volume (mass) concentration. The continuum matrix material includes a certain amount of fibres made of CNTs. An impact of the projectile with the sharp nose on the metal matrix composite plate was analysed. The computer simulations were performed with the finite element method implemented in LS-DYNA code. The plane formulation allows analysing extremely dense meshes. The obtained results presented the significant role of the carbon nanotube fibres. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.