Material Characterization of Rubberized Aramid for Shock Mitigation

Modern military vehicles can reduce transmitted shocks to critical components within it through the use of composite armor and rubberized material at the space frame joints. Therefore, proper material models of these shock absorbing materials are imperative to accurately understand shock transmission. While quasi-static mechanical characteristics of candidate materials may be well understood, their behavior under dynamic conditions has not been studied as much. This research presents the mechanical characterization of rubberized aramid, which is used as a part of a composite armor. Since the rubberized aramid material may be subjected to large deformations due to the high impact loading, a strain-sensitive material model is proposed to describe this material computationally. Tensile tests on rubberized aramid are conducted under various strain rates. Additionally, dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) vibration tests are conducted to determine the damping property of the rubberized aramid material. These measured characteristics can be incorporated in the material models that will be used in the computational analysis of the armored vehicle under shock loading.