Experimental Testing and Predictive Finite Element Modeling of the V0-V100 Probabilistic Penetration Response of Woven Aramid Fabrics including Multiscale Modeling Across the Length Scales
This work was sponsored by multiple government agencies and organizations including Program Executive Office Soldier (PEO-Soldier), Teledyne Scientific & Imaging (TS&I), University of Southern California (USC), Army Research Laboratory (ARL), and University of Delaware (UDel). This work was performed by Dr. Nilakantan while he worked at TS&I, USC, and UDel as well as while he was pursuing his doctoral and masters degrees.
At the end of this research work, Dr. Nilakantan was the foremost expert and leading scientist in the United States on the predictive modeling of the probabilistic penetration response of woven Aramid fabrics used in soft armor. This was the culmination of over a decade of research work split across multiple organizations; a testament to Dr. Nilakantan's technical brilliance, tenacity, leadership, and vision in keeping the research work active all those years while continuously progressively advancing the state of the art to the point where he was the first person in the world to demonstrate a predictive yarn-level fabric FEA model for probabilistic V0-V100 penetration modeling of woven fabrics. For the first time ever, experimentally-characterized sources of statistical variability in the material and test methodology were explicitly mapped into the FEA model to enable probabilistic penetration responses. This work encompassed a massive undertaking of experimental characterization across the fabric to fiber length scales to develop a large material database, statistical analysis of experimental test data, and FEA modeling across the fabric to fiber length scales including the development of complex user-defined material models in LS-DYNA and advanced multiscale modeling approaches with impedance-matched interfaces.
At the end of this research work, Dr. Nilakantan was the foremost expert and leading scientist in the United States on the predictive modeling of the probabilistic penetration response of woven Aramid fabrics used in soft armor. This was the culmination of over a decade of research work split across multiple organizations; a testament to Dr. Nilakantan's technical brilliance, tenacity, leadership, and vision in keeping the research work active all those years while continuously progressively advancing the state of the art to the point where he was the first person in the world to demonstrate a predictive yarn-level fabric FEA model for probabilistic V0-V100 penetration modeling of woven fabrics. For the first time ever, experimentally-characterized sources of statistical variability in the material and test methodology were explicitly mapped into the FEA model to enable probabilistic penetration responses. This work encompassed a massive undertaking of experimental characterization across the fabric to fiber length scales to develop a large material database, statistical analysis of experimental test data, and FEA modeling across the fabric to fiber length scales including the development of complex user-defined material models in LS-DYNA and advanced multiscale modeling approaches with impedance-matched interfaces.
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Relevant Journal Publications
Top 10 only, see Publications page for the full list.
- Experimentally validated predictive finite element modeling of the V0-V100 probabilistic penetration response of a Kevlar fabric against a spherical projectile, Gaurav Nilakantan; International Journal of Protective Structures, Vol. 9, Issue 4, 2018, pp. 504-524. (URL)
- Virtual ballistic impact testing of Kevlar soft armor: Predictive and validated finite element modeling of the V0-V100 probabilistic penetration response, Gaurav Nilakantan; Suzanne Horner, Virginia Halls, James Zheng; Defence Technology, Vol. 14, Issue 3, 2018, pp. 213-225. (URL)
- Cited in the Most Downloaded Defence Technology Articles - Experimental Investigation of the Role of Frictional Yarn Pull-Out and Windowing on the Probabilistic Impact Response of Kevlar Fabrics, Gaurav Nilakantan; Richard L. Merrill; Michael Keefe; John W. Gillespie Jr.; Eric D. Wetzel; Composites Part B, Vol. 68, 2015, pp. 215-229. (URL)
- Effects of Clamping Design on the Ballistic Impact Response of Soft Body Armor, Gaurav Nilakantan; Steven Nutt; Composite Structures, Vol. 108, 2014, pp. 137-150. (URL)
- Filament-level Modeling of Kevlar KM2 Yarns for Ballistic Impact Studies, Gaurav Nilakantan; Composite Structures, Vol. 104, 2013, pp. 1-13. (URL)
- Finite Element Analysis of Projectile Size and Shape Effects on the Probabilistic Penetration Response of High Strength Fabrics, Gaurav Nilakantan; Eric D. Wetzel; Travis A. Bogetti; John W. Gillespie Jr.; Composite Structures, Vol. 94, Issue 5, 2012, pp. 1846-1854. (URL)
- Experimental Evaluation and Statistical Characterization of the Strength and Strain Energy Density Distribution of Kevlar KM2 Yarns: Exploring Length Scale and Weaving Effects, Gaurav Nilakantan; Ahmad Abu-Obaid; Michael Keefe; John W. Gillespie, Jr.; Journal of Composite Materials, Vol. 45, Issue 17, 2010, pp. 1749-1769. (URL)
- Multiscale Modeling of the Impact of Textile Fabrics Based on Hybrid Element Analysis, Gaurav Nilakantan; Michael Keefe; Travis A. Bogetti; John W. Gillespie, Jr.; International Journal of Impact Engineering, Vol. 37, Issue 10, 2010, pp. 1056-1071. (URL)
- Cited in the SciVerse ScienceDirect Top 25 Hottest Articles - On the Finite Element Analysis of Woven Fabric Impact Using Multiscale Modeling Techniques, Gaurav Nilakantan; Michael Keefe; Travis A. Bogetti; Rob Adkinson; John W. Gillespie, Jr.; International Journal of Solids and Structures, Vol. 47, Issue 17, 2010, pp. 2300-2315. (URL)
- Cited in the SciVerse ScienceDirect Top 25 Hottest Articles - Ballistic Impact of Dry Woven Fabric Composites: A Review, Ala Tabiei; Gaurav Nilakantan; Applied Mechanics Reviews, Vol. 61, Issue 1, 2008, pp. 10801-10813. (URL)
- Cited in the Monthly Top 10 Most Downloaded Articles of AMR
Relevant Conference Proceedings and Presentations
Top 3 only, see Publications page for the full list.
- Virtual Ballistic Testing of Kevlar Soft Armor: Predictive and Validated Modeling of the V0-V100 Probabilistic Penetration Response using LS-DYNA; Gaurav Nilakantan; 15th International LS-DYNA Users Conference, Dearborn, MI, USA, June 10-12, 2018 (URL)
- World’s First Predictive and Validated Yarn-level FEA Modeling of the V0-V100 Probabilistic Penetration Response of Fully-Clamped Kevlar Fabric, Gaurav Nilakantan; American Society for Composites 32nd Technical Conference, West Lafayette, IN, USA, October 22-25, 2017 (URL)
- State of the Art in the Deterministic and Probabilistic Ballistic Impact Modeling of Soft Body Armor: Filaments to Fabrics, Gaurav Nilakantan; Steven Nutt; American Society for Composites 29th Technical Conference, San Diego, CA, USA, September 8-10, 2014 (URL)
Relevant Other Publications
- Virtual Testing of Composite Armour Probabilistic Penetration, JEC Composites Magazine, N°123, August-September 2018 (URL)
- Predictive Modeling of Flexible Fabric Armor Impact using Multiscale and Probabilistic Computational Methods, Periodic Bulletin - International Ballistics Society, Issue 2, March 2011 (URL)