j m a t e r r e s t e c h n o l .

2 0 1 7;6(4):323–328

Available online at www.sciencedirect.com

www.jmrt.com.br

Original Article

Performance of natural curaua fiber-reinforced

polyester composites under 7.62 mm bullet impact
as a stand-alone ballistic armor夽

Fábio de Oliveira Braga a,b,∗ , Lucas Tedesco Bolzan a , Édio Pereira Lima Jr. a ,
Sergio Neves Monteiro a
a Military Institute of Engineering (IME), Department of Materials Science, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
b National Industrial Training Service of the State of Rio de Janeiro (SENAI-RJ), SENAI Rio Faculty, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: A multilayered armor system (MAS) is intended to personal protection against high kinetic
Received 29 May 2017 energy ammunition. MAS layers are composed of materials such as a front ceramic and
Accepted 15 August 2017 a back composite that must show both high impact resistance and low weight, usually
Available online 21 September 2017 conflicting characteristics. Synthetic fiber fabrics, such as KevlarTM and DyneemaTM , are
the favorite materials to back the front ceramic, due to their high strength, high modulus
Keywords: and relatively low weight. Recently, composites reinforced with natural fibers have been
Composite considered as MAS second layer owing to their good performance associated with other
Natural fiber advantages as being cheaper and environmentally friendly. Among the natural fibers, those
Curaua fiber extracted from the leaves of the Ananas erectifolius plant, known as curaua, stand out due
Ballistic test to its exceptional high strength and high modulus. Thus, the objective of the present work
is to evaluate the performance of curaua fiber-reinforced polyester composites subjected
to ballistic impact of high energy 7.62 mm ammunition. Composites reinforced with 0, 10,
20 and 30 vol.% of curaua fibers were produced and stand-alone tested as armor target to
evaluate the absorbed energy. Analysis of variance (Anova) and Tukey’s honest significant
difference test (HSD) made it possible to compare the results to KevlarTM laminates. Among
the tested materials, the 30 vol.% fiber composites were found to be the best alternative to
KevlarTM .
© 2017 Brazilian Metallurgical, Materials and Mining Association. Published by Elsevier
Editora Ltda. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://
creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

夽
Paper was a contribution part of the 3rd Pan American Materials Congress, February 26th to March 2nd , 2017.
∗
Corresponding author.
E-mail: fabio obraga@yahoo.com.br (F.O. Braga).
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jmrt.2017.08.003
2238-7854/© 2017 Brazilian Metallurgical, Materials and Mining Association. Published by Elsevier Editora Ltda. This is an open access
article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
324 j m a t e r r e s t e c h n o l . 2 0 1 7;6(4):323–328

reinforced with curaua fibers, neat polyester resin and aramid

1. Introduction
fabric laminates (KevlarTM ) were evaluated for comparison.
The curaua fibers were supplied by the Pematec Triangel
As the technology of guns and ammunition progresses, atten-
firm, Brazil, in the form of bundles. The isophthalic polyester
tion is being paid to the development of new materials that
resin and hardener (methyl ethyl ketone), fabricated by Dow
resist to ballistic impacts. High strength materials are nec-
Chemical, were supplied by the Resinpoxy firm, Brazil. For the
essary, but the search for the best performance should also
composite preparation, the curaua fibers were 150 mm cut in
consider the mobility that the soldiers and the defense sys-
length and dried at 60 ◦ C for 24 h. The fibers were carefully
tems must have [1–3].
positioned in layers, inside a steel mold, keeping the fiber
Currently, synthetic fiber fabrics such as aramid (KevlarTM
alignment along the mold’s length. The layers were interca-
and TwaronTM ) as well as ultra-high molecular weight
lated with polyester–1% hardener mixture. A pressure of 3 MPa
polyethylene (DyneemaTM or SpectraTM ) are the favorite mate-
was applied and the composite plate cured at room temper-
rials to protect personnel and to provide defensive armor
ature for 24 h. The final composite plates were rectangular in
systems against high energy ammunitions, such as 7.62 and
shape with 120 mm × 150 mm × 10 mm dimensions.
5.56 mm [2–4]. However, aiming to improve performance and
The aramid fabric was a model S745 with areal density
considering new economic and environmental issues, several
of 460 g/m2 , acquired from LFJ Blindagens (Conquext) firm,
other lightweight materials are being tested [5–16].
Brazil. It was provided as 8 layer panels (model MENEOKV08)
In this scenario, natural fiber reinforced composites have
impregnated with neoprene rubber. In each 16 layer sam-
demonstrated good ballistic behavior to compose multilay-
ples, 2 panels were joined together using polyurethane based
ered armor systems (MAS) [10–12]. The fiber extracted from
glue, resulting in a laminate with approximately 10 mm in
the Amazon plant Ananas erectifolius, called curaua, stand out
thickness, same as the neat polyester and curaua composite
among the natural fibers due to their high strength and high
plates.
modulus, low weight and high toughness of their composites
The materials were subjected to ballistic impact at the
[16–19].
Army Assessment Center (CAEx), in the Marambaia Peninsula,
Monteiro et al. [19] have already studied the curaua fiber-
Rio de Janeiro. The shooting device was a model B290 HPI (High
reinforced polyester composites as part of a MAS. However,
Pressure Instrumentation), which consists of a gun barrel with
the individual energy dissipation of the curaua composites
laser sight (Fig. 1(a)). For the velocity measurements, it has
was not investigated. This is important for the contribution
been employed a model SL-520P Weibel Doppler radar pro-
of each material to the MAS model of energy absorption. Sev-
vided with a Windopp software to process the radar raw data.
eral methods can be used to evaluate the ballistic behavior
The ammunition was a commercial 7.62 mm M1, weighting
of a material [19–21]. In the present work a comparison has
9.7 g. The target (Fig. 1(b)) was positioned 15 m from the gun
been made between polyester composites reinforced with up
barrel, and the shooting performed with the bullet following a
to 30 vol.% of curaua fibers, neat polyester and aramid fabric
trajectory perpendicular to the target, as schematic shown in
laminate. This was conducted by using the value of the pro-
Fig. 1(c).
jectile’s kinetic energy absorbed by the target. This technique
The projectile’s velocity was measured immediately before
allows a fast individual evaluation of the materials that com-
(vi ) and after (vr ) the impact. The kinetic energy variation of
pose the MAS. Thus, the objective of the present work is to
the projectile was related to the energy absorbed by the target
evaluate the individual performance of these materials when
(Eabs ) and used for comparison between the materials. It can
subjected to ballistic impact with 7.62 mm ammunition. The
be calculated by Eq. (1).
reason for the stand-alone ballistic tests is to determine how
each investigated material would behave without the front
m(v2i − v2r )
ceramic. This might permit more complete understanding of Eabs = (1)
2
the energy dissipation mechanisms that were first studied for
KevlarTM [4].
where m = mass of the bullet.
Nine tests were made for each material target. The low-
2. Experimental methods est and the highest values of absorbed energy for each
material were discarded. The values were then statisti-
Table 1 shows the materials tested in the present work cally treated using the analysis of variance (Anova). The
and their designations. Besides the polyester composites mean values were then compared using Tukey’s test, also
called honestly significant difference (HSD), and calculated by
Eq. (2) [22].
Table 1 – Type and designation of the materials 
examined in the present work. EMS
HSD = q , (2)
Type Designation r

Neat polyester resin P-0%C

where q = HSD constant tabulated for 5% significance;
10 vol.% curaua fiber-reinforced polyester composites P-10%C
20 vol.% curaua fiber-reinforced polyester composites P-20%C EMS = error mean square of the Anova; r = number of repeti-
30 vol.% curaua fiber-reinforced polyester composites P-30%C tions for each treatment (r = 7).
16 ply aramid fabric laminates Aramid
 j m a t e r r e s t e c h n o l . 2 0 1 7;6(4):323–328 325

a b

c
Armor

15 m

Optical Barrier

Stop Circuit

Doppler Radar

Time Counter

Gun Barrel 1m
Start Circuit

Gun Mount

Fig. 1 – Experimental arrangement of the ballistic test: (a) gun barrel with laser sight; (b) curaua composite sample mounted
in front of a hollow aluminum block; (c) schematic view of the ballistic experimental setup.

Table 3 shows the analysis of variance of the data. In this

3. Results and discussion table it is presented parameters such as degrees of freedom
(DF), sum of squares (SS), mean squares (MS), the Snedecor F
Fig. 2 presents a typical Doppler radar reflected raw data,
and Fc , calculated and critical, respectively, and the p-value.
Fig. 2(a), and its corresponding Windopp fitted radial velocity
It is important to mention that before the Anova, it has been
curve, Fig. 2(b). The projectile with decreasing velocity, ver-
performed a Shapiro–Wilk test, and it was found that all data
tical scale in Fig. 2(b), exits the gun barrel with 879 m/s and
follows normal distributions.
hits the target at vi = 867 m/s. Projectile penetration through
Comparing the F value with the tabulated (Fc = 2.69), the
the target is associated with a vertical (radar blind) straight
hypothesis that the mean values are the same can be rejected
line at about 0.018 s form the shooting onset. As shown in
with 95% confidence, since F > Fc . In other words, it was statisti-
Fig. 2(b), the projectile emerges from the target (bottom of ver-
cally proved that the material of the target, indeed, influenced
tical line) with a residual velocity vr = 745 m/s. Thereafter, a
the projectile’s absorbed energy.
single decreasing curve indicates that projectile is intact with
After the Anova, it is possible to compare the mean val-
continuously decreasing velocity. The values of vi and vr , mea-
ues using the HSD test. The value of q for 5 treatments and
sured in every test, allowed the calculation of the absorbed
30 degrees of freedom for the error is 4.1. Thus, the HSD was
energy by means of Eq. (1).
calculated by Eq. (2) as 57.5 J. Table 4 shows the comparison
Table 2 shows the projectile’s absorbed energy by the dif-
between the mean values using the HSD test. In bold are high-
ferent targets. Considering primarily just the mean values, it
lighted the differences between mean values larger than the
might be observed that the type of material influences the
HSD.
absorbed energy. However, the confirmation still needs an
Analyzing Tables 2 and 4, it can be verified that the mate-
additional statistical treatment (Anova and HSD).
rial P-0%C was the one that absorbed the highest energy value.
326 j m a t e r r e s t e c h n o l . 2 0 1 7;6(4):323–328

Velocity (m/s) VTI-Plot (j:\tiros no coex\tratar\col tec ime 080715\150708_0018\150708_0018.dat). Channels:11.FFT Points:1024
900 dB/Hz
a 120
117
114
800 112
110
107
700 104
102
100
600 97
94
92
90
500 87
84
82
400 80
77
74
72
300 70
67
64
200 62
60
57
100 54
52
50
0
0.01 0.02 0.03 0.04 0.05 0.06 0.07 0.08 0.09 0.10 0.11 0.12 0.13 0.14 0.15 0.16 0.17 0.18
Time (S)

Radial Velocity (launcher) (m/s)

900
Radial Velocity (launcher)

850
b Fitted Radial Velocity (launcher)

800

750

700

650

600

550

500

450

400

350

300
0.00 0.01 0.02 0.03 0.04 0.05 0.06 0.07 0.08 0.09 0.10 0.11 0.12 0.13 0.14 0.15 0.16 0.17
Time (S)

Fig. 2 – Doppler radar variation of projectile velocity with time from shooting even: (a) raw reflected data and (b) Windopp
fitted projectile radial velocity.

This can be attributed to its fragile characteristic that dissi-
pates energy by creation of fracture surfaces, as it happens in
ceramics spalling mechanism [4].
On the other hand, HSD test confirmed that the compos-
ites (P-10%C, P-20%C and P-30%C) had an inferior result (lower
energy absorption) when compared to the neat polyester resin
(P-0%C). This is probably due to the change of the fracture
mechanisms, starting from a fragile material turning to a
tougher one, with more complex fracture features, involving
matrix cracking and fibers failure as well as fiber pullout and
delamination, among other mechanisms [10].
Fig. 3 shows the general aspect of the samples after the bal-
listic tests. The neat polyester, P-0%C, was totally fragmented,
as can be observed in Fig. 3(a). Despite its higher energy
absorption, the fragmentation is a practical problem when the
material is subjected to multiple impacts. Among the com-
posites, the P-30%C was the one with the best aspect, and
absorbed the same amount of energy than the KevlarTM lam-
inate. Although P-30%C absorbed less energy than P-0%C, the
fact that P-30%C kept its integrity after the impact is of great
importance to integrate a MAS against 7.62 mm ammunition,
especially as second layer, backing the ceramic tile [11–15].
 j m a t e r r e s t e c h n o l . 2 0 1 7;6(4):323–328 327

Table 2 – Projectile’s absorbed energy due to ballistic Table 4 – Honest significant difference (HSD) analysis.
impact.
Material P-0%C P-10%C P-20%C P-30%C Aramid
Target material
P-0%C 0 59 99 65 42
P-0%C P-10%C P-20%C P-30%C Aramid P-10%C 59 0 40 6 17
P-20%C 99 40 0 34 57
225 120 127 152 194
P-30%C 65 6 34 0 23
230 150 147 186 201
Aramid 42 17 57 23 0
Absorbed 260 156 156 194 221
energy 267 190 163 197 226
[J] 268 224 164 200 228
292 290 186 218 229 4. Conclusions
295 293 199 230 239

Mean energy [J] 262 ± 27 203 ± 69 163 ± 24 197 ± 25 220 ± 17 • Different materials, including a neat polyester resin, an
aramid fabric laminate and composites reinforced with 10,
20 and 30 vol.% of curaua fibers were individually tested by
Table 3 – Analysis of variance (Anova) of the data. the ballistic impact with 7.62 mm bullets.
Source of variation DF SS MS F Fc p-value • The neat polyester resin showed the highest energy absorp-
tion. However, its fragmentation characteristic makes it
Treatments 4 36,893 9223 6.6917 2.69 0.0006
Error 30 41,349 1378 unsuitable for multi-hit applications.
Total 34 78,242 • Despite that, the 30 vol.% curaua fiber composite showed
an interesting group of characteristics for multi-hit appli-
cations, such as high energy absorption and good cohesion
In comparison with P-20%C, the higher absorbed energy was after the impact.
not significant, and both were not fragmented. However, the • Composites reinforced with curaua fibers are potentially
higher the amount of curaua fibers, the cheaper becomes able to replace synthetic fiber fabrics as second layer in mul-
the composite and there is a slight increase in the absorbed tilayered armor systems (MAS) for personal protection. In
energy. Therefore, the P-30%C is always more advantageous addition to the good performance, the curaua fiber compos-
as MAS second layer. ites are light, cheaper and environmentally friendly.

a b

20 mm 20 mm

c d

20 mm 20 mm

Fig. 3 – Samples subjected to ballistic impact: (a) P-0%C; (b) P-10%C; (c) P-20%C; (d) P-30%C.
328 j m a t e r r e s t e c h n o l . 2 0 1 7;6(4):323–328
Conflicts of interest
The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
Acknowledgements
The authors of the present work wish to thank the Brazilian
supporting agencies CAPES, CNPq and FAPERJ for the funding,
and the CAEx, for performing the ballistic tests.
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