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Aged and unaged flexible unidirectional composite laminate tensile testing for soft body armor applications

Published by National Institute of Standards and Technology | National Institute of Standards and Technology | Metadata Last Checked: August 02, 2025 | Last Modified: 2018-08-31 00:00:00
Flexible Unidirectional (UD) composite laminates are commonly being used for ballistic-resistant body armor. These laminates comprise UD layers, each constructed by laminating thin layers of high-performance fibers held in place using binder resins, with the fibers in each layer oriented parallel to each other. As these materials are used in body armor, it is important to investigate their long-term reliability, particularly with regards to exposure to temperature and humidity as these are known causes of degradation in other commonly used body armor materials. This work investigates the tensile behavior of a poly(p-phenylene terephthalamide), reffered to as PPTA, flexible UD laminate, both unaged and aged for up to 150 d at accelerated conditions of 70 °C and 76 % relative humidity (RH). Tests on aged specimens were performed at three different crosshead displacement rates and three different gauge lengths. Unaged characterization additionally included three different widths and two other configurations. Certain commercial equipment, instruments, or materials are identified in this dataset in order to specify the experimental procedure adequately. Such identification is not intended to imply recommendation or endorsement by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, nor is it intended to imply that the materials or equipment identified are necessarily the best available for the purpose.

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                                            {
  "fn": "Amy Engelbrecht-Wiggans",
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description Flexible Unidirectional (UD) composite laminates are commonly being used for ballistic-resistant body armor. These laminates comprise UD layers, each constructed by laminating thin layers of high-performance fibers held in place using binder resins, with the fibers in each layer oriented parallel to each other. As these materials are used in body armor, it is important to investigate their long-term reliability, particularly with regards to exposure to temperature and humidity as these are known causes of degradation in other commonly used body armor materials. This work investigates the tensile behavior of a poly(p-phenylene terephthalamide), reffered to as PPTA, flexible UD laminate, both unaged and aged for up to 150 d at accelerated conditions of 70 °C and 76 % relative humidity (RH). Tests on aged specimens were performed at three different crosshead displacement rates and three different gauge lengths. Unaged characterization additionally included three different widths and two other configurations. Certain commercial equipment, instruments, or materials are identified in this dataset in order to specify the experimental procedure adequately. Such identification is not intended to imply recommendation or endorsement by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, nor is it intended to imply that the materials or equipment identified are necessarily the best available for the purpose.
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identifier 8B3BFE0480BD4943E053245706812C692078
keyword 
                                            [
  "Composite laminate",
  "aramid",
  "body armor",
  "flexible composite",
  "hydrothermal ageing",
  "strip tensile testing"
]
landingPage https://data.nist.gov/od/id/8B3BFE0480BD4943E053245706812C692078
language 
                                            [
  "en"
]
license https://www.nist.gov/open/license
modified 2018-08-31 00:00:00
programCode 
                                            [
  "006:045"
]
publisher 
                                            {
  "name": "National Institute of Standards and Technology",
  "@type": "org:Organization"
}
references 
                                            [
  "http://dx.doi.org/10.3791/58991",
  "https://www.jove.com/video/58991/cutting-procedures-tensile-testing-ageing-flexible-unidirectional"
]
theme 
                                            [
  "Materials",
  "Materials:Composites"
]
title Aged and unaged flexible unidirectional composite laminate tensile testing for soft body armor applications

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