Abstract

One of the main challenges for UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) used in defence and military operations is to effectively conclude a flight mission in a harsh environment. The platform survivability is critical, therefore it is imperative that the vehicle is able to withstand ballistic impacts in flight and still be able to reach its destination. In the present work, the authors discuss the development of a lightweight ballistic armour to protect critical areas of the vehicle, such as the control systems and/or the payload. The structure response during and after a 9 mm bullet impact, shows that the proposed hybrid composite panels will be able to withstand high-energy ballistic impacts after optimization. The FEA (Finite Element Analysis) method is implemented to study the performance of ceramic protective plates attached to the CFRP (Carbon Fibre Reinforced Polymer) structural platform. An Eurelian-Lagrangian modelling technique is implemented with different damage models for the various materials involved in the impact event in order to properly capture each material response in this complex load scenario. Numerical studies are validated experimentally. The base structural CFRP is cured in autoclave followed by a post-cure to integrate the remaining components. Experimental tests were conducted at a shooting range where 9 mm projectiles are fired at a distance of 10 m of the target plates. Data is collected recurring to a chronograph/high speed camera combination apparatus to measure the impact and residual velocity and the projectile deformation/damage. Numerical models show good correlation with the experimentally measured data.