• Composites Research
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.66-73
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• 2009

Total thickness, areal density and mass moment of inertia of materials are important material factors for structural characteristics. In this work, a material-structural optimization was performed up to the maximum ballistic limit of multi-layered composite structures under high impact velocity followed by the investigation of the influence of these factors on an impact absorption performance. A unified model combined with Florence's and Awerbuch-Bonder's models was used in optimizing the multi-layered composite structure consisting of CMC, rubber, aluminum and Al-foam. Total thickness, areal density and mass moment of inertia were used for the optimization constraint. As shown in the results, the ballistic limit determined from a newly developed unified model was closely similar to the finite clement analysis. Additionally, the ballistic limit and impact absorption energy obtained by the optimized structure were improved approximately 16.8% and 26.7%, respectively comparing with a not optimized multi-layered structure.