Abstract
Body armour technologists over the years are seeking to develop protective systems which are both effective and lightweight. However these hard armour materials are very expensive and have certain weight constraints. From this point of view, natural fibres and fillers have attracted the attention of researchers due to their low density with high specific strengths, abundance, availability, renewability and being environmental-friendly. This paper reports the potential use of coconut shell powder-epoxy composite (COEX) panel bonded with Twaron CT716 fabric as a hard armour material and the characteristics of its fracture imprints from a specific threat level when subjected to ballistic tests(1) (NIJ Standard 0108.01). It was observed that the imprint patterns on the particulate composite (COEX) could be identified according to effectiveness in impact energy dissipation. COEX/Twaron test panel was found to withstand impact equivalent to NIJ Level IIIA using 9 mm FMJ ammunition but perforated at NIJ Level III of 7.62 mm FMJ bullet impacts. Test results showed that COEX panel do possess shock absorbance characteristics and can be utilised as an armour component in the hard-body armour system. Dependency on Twaron fabric layers as ballistic reinforcements has been reduced up to 3-time with 170 per cent improvement on energy-absorption capabilities when using COEX composite as the frontal component of the armour.