Experimental investigation on anti-penetration performance of polyurea-coated ASTM1045 steel plate subjected to projectile impact

In this study, the anti-penetration performance of polyurea/ASTM1405-steel composite plate subjected to high velocity projectile was analyzed. Two kinds of modified polyurea material (AMMT-053 and AMMT-055) were selected and a ballistic impact testing system including speed measuring target system and high-speed camera was designed. This experiment was conducted with a rifle and 5.8 mm projectile to explore the effects by the polyurea coating thickness, the polyurea coating position and the glass-fiber cloth on the anti-penetration performance of polyurea/ASTM1405-steel composite plate. The result showed that the effects of polyurea coating position were different between two types of polyurea, and that the effects of glass-fiber position were disparate between two types of polyurea as well. For AMMT-053 polyurea material, it was better to be on front face than on rear face; whereas for AMMT-055 polyurea, it was better to be on rear surface although the difference was very subtle. Additionally, formulas had been given to describe the relationship between the effectiveness of polyurea and the thickness of polyurea coating. In general, AMMT-055 had better anti-penetration performance than AMMT-053. Furthermore, five typical damage modes including self-healing, crack, local bulge, spallation and local fragmentation were defined and the failure mechanism was analyzed with the results of SHPB test. Additionally, the bonding strength played an important role in the anti-penetration performance of polyurea/steel composite plate.