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Mechanical and Industrial Engineering

Funded Projects

Ballistic Impact on Composite Armor System

The research goal of this grant is to develop next-generation armor systems for high-performance ballistic threats by an innovative composite armor system using shaped ceramic and carbon nanotube plates. Due to new technology, new types of weapons are continually being developed. Therefore, it is very important to develop new armor systems to protect military vehicles and aircraft against these new ballistic threats.

The research objectives of this proposal are (i) understanding current composite armor’s response to ballistic impact through multiscale and finite element modeling and testing,  (ii) determining the initiation of matrix cracking and the corresponding impact load; (iii) finding the delamination initiation and propagation; (iv) determining the extent of delamination as a function of the applied impact load; (v) determining contact information associated with delamination growth; (vi) finding areal density and absorbed energy of impact specimens.

The educational goal is to build a testing platform to engage students in understanding the importance of composite armor search and inspire them to pursue a career in a defense-related research lab. The proposed research will be integrated into (1) a multi-cultural composite material design, training, and mentoring program at TAMUK; (2) an outreach program geared towards K-12 students and undergraduate students to think more about defense-related careers and/or research and; (3) a new graduate-level course at focused on designing impact-resistant composite structures.

Funding Agency: Department of Defense (Army Research Office)

Project Period: October 2018 - September 2021

Funded Amount: $599,680.22

  • Guodong Guo, Shah Alam and Larry Peel, “Ballistic impact behavior of Kevlar-29/epoxy composites and UHMWPE composites backed ceramic armor structures”, Composite Part B, 2021, will be submitted soon.
  • Guodong Guo, Shah Alam and Larry Peel, “An investigation of the effect of a Kevlar cover layer on the penetration behavior of a ceramic armor system against 7.62 mm APM2 projectiles”, International Journal of Impact Engineering, 2021, Under review.
  • Guodong Guo, Shah Alam and Larry Peel, “Effects of honeycomb on the ballistic impact performance of ceramic based composite armor systems”, International Journal of Impact Engineering, 2020, Under review.
  • Guodong Guo, Shah Alam and Larry Peel, “Advanced Hybrid Composite Armors for Ballistic Impact”, Composites part C: 3 (2020) 100061.
  • Ruaa Al-Mezrakchi1, Ahmed Al-Ramthan and Shah Alam, “Designing and modeling new generation of advanced hybrid composite sandwich structure armors for ballistic threats in defense applications”, AIMS Materials Science, 7(5): 608–631.
  • Shah Alam, Babatope Adegbesan, Damodar Khanal, “Ballistic Performance of Sandwich Composite Armor System”, International Journal of Composite Materials 2020, 10(2): 40-49.
  • Babatope Ebenezer Adegbesan, “Parametric Study of Sandwich Composite Armor”, Master Thesis, TAMUK, December 2020.
  • Farid A. Solis, “Development and Use of A Ballistic Testing Apparatus For Composite Armor”, Master Thesis, TAMUK, August 2020.
  • Shah Alam and Damodar Khanal, “Impact Analysis of Honeycomb Core Sandwich Panels”, ASME 2020 IMECE International Mechanical Engineering Congress & Exposition, Portland, Oregon.
  • Shah Alam and Samhith Shekhar, “Ballistic Performance of Sandwich Composite Armor System”, ASME 2020 IMECE International Mechanical Engineering Congress & Exposition, Portland, Oregon.
  • Mohammad Nazmus Saquib, “Impact on A Composite Armor System”, Master Thesis, TAMUK, August 2019.
  • Shah Alam and Aakash Bungatavula, “Numerical Modelling of Impact Behavior of Composite Sandwich Panel with Honeycomb Core”, ASME 2019 IMECE International Mechanical Engineering Congress & Exposition, Salt Lake City, Utah.
  • Shah Alam and Mohammad Saquib, “Impact on a Composite Armor system”, ASME 2019 IMECE International Mechanical Engineering Congress & Exposition, Salt Lake City, Utah.

Principal Investigator: Dr. Shah Alam

Co-Principal Investigator: Dr. Larry Peel