Faculty Publications

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    Ballistic Impact Study on Jute-Epoxy and Natural Rubber Sandwich Composites
    (Elsevier Ltd, 2018) Sangamesh, R.; Ravishankar, K.S.; Kulkarni, S.M.
    Since ages, human beings have used different methods to protect themselves and their armors from the impact of bullets/projectiles by using structures made up of wood, metals, glass and sand bags etc. These protective structures are heavy and incur cost and inconvenience to transport. Of late, they are replaced by structures of polymers and their composites, because of their light weight and good corrosion resistance. Ballistic impact analysis of composite materials is necessary in order to establish their use in military, aerospace and automotive applications either through experimental studies or using modeling techniques. The aim of the present investigation is to model and analyze the behavior of composites for ballistic impact. Residual velocity, energy absorption and ballistic limit for three different materials Jute-Epoxy (JE), Rubber (Ru), Jute-Epoxy-Rubber sandwich (JRE) for three thicknesses (5, 10, 15mm) and at three velocities (150, 250, 350 m/s) is studied. The study exhibits a significant amount of energy absorption in rubber, almost 10 times as compared to JE plate. Also damage observed was ductile in the case of rubber, while brittle in JE. Sandwich composites (JRE) displayed energy absorption and ballistic limit on par with rubber plates. Thus the applicability of these sandwiches in ballistic impact is established as better energy absorbing protective target structures. © 2017 Elsevier Ltd.
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    Study on ballistic characteristics of glass-epoxy-rubber sandwiches
    (Trans Tech Publications Ltd ttp@transtec.ch, 2020) Sangamesh, R.; Hiremath, H.; Ravishankar, K.S.; Kulkarni, S.M.
    This article focuses on the Finite Element (FE) analysis of the ballistic performance of the polymer composites. These composites consisting of natural rubber (NR), glass-epoxy (GE) and glass-rubber-epoxy (GRE) sandwich of different thicknesses (3, 6 and 9 mm) under the impact of the conical nose projectile for a velocity variation of (180, 220 and 260 m / s). FE modeling was carried out to forecast the energy absorption, ballistic limit velocity and failure damage mode of the target material. The significant influence of thickness, interlayers and sandwiching effect was studied: the lowest ballistic limit was obtained for 3 mm thick GE. The energy absorption capacity of GRE sandwich was highest among the natural rubber and GE. The work can be extended for the experimental validation purpose so that these polymer composite materials could be utilized in the defense sector for bullet-proofing. © 2020 Trans Tech Publications Ltd, Switzerland.
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    Experimentation on dynamic compressive response of bio-inspired helicoidal structured Basalt/Hemp/polyurethane rubber sandwich composites
    (Elsevier Ltd, 2024) Gowda, D.; Mahesh, V.; Mahesh, V.; Ravishankar, K.S.
    In this article, to incorporate sustainability, enhance recyclability and achieve a good trade-off between the cost-weight-energy absorption performance, bioinspired helicoidal structured Basalt (B)/Hemp (H)/Polyurethane (PU) rubber hybrid composites are proposed, and their dynamic compressive response is experimentally investigated using a split Hopkinson pressure bar (SHPB) setup. These composites' high strain rate performance subjected to both in-plane and through-plane directions are studied. The strain rates ranging from 4254 to 10,750 s-1 are achieved by varying the striker bar's input pressure. In addition, the performance of the bioinspired helicoidal design is compared against the uniform monolithic and hybridised fibers laminated structures. The experimental results suggest that the dynamic compressive properties of Basalt/Hemp-helicoidal (BH-helicoidal) laminates were on compar with that of B-laminates, achieving an almost 30% weight reduction. The optimised fiber orientation at a helical angle of 120 enhances interlaminar shear strength, mitigating buckling and delamination failures, thereby improving BH-helicoidal laminate's structural integrity and dynamic compressive properties. Further, the through-plane dynamically loaded samples displayed better compressive properties due to increased stiffness than in-plane samples. The PU rubber matrix was thermally softened at higher strain rates, enhancing the flow stress. The strengthening mechanism of the proposed composites was evaluated through Cowper-Symonds, strain rate sensitivity, and thermal activation volume parameter. Macroscopic and microscopic imaging was proposed to understand the damage behaviour of laminates as a function of loading direction. Overall, BH-helicoidal laminate is favoured for ballistic application due to its cost-effectiveness and sustainable design. © 2024 Elsevier Ltd
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    Low-velocity impact characterization of polyurethane rubber/nano-clay enriched sustainable sandwich composites: Synergy of experimentation and simulations
    (John Wiley and Sons Inc, 2024) Gowda, D.; Mahesh, V.; Mahesh, V.; Ravishankar, K.S.
    This research proposes a novel sustainable composite using basalt (B), hemp (H) and polyurethane rubber (Pu) reinforced in nano clay functionalised epoxy matrix for sacrificial structural applications prone to low-velocity impact (LVI). To this end, symmetric and asymmetric laminates such as HHHH, BBBB, BHHB, BHPuHB, BBPuHH and BPuBPuHPuH are fabricated using compression molding techniques and subjected to LVI at three different impact energies of 19.66, 39.39, and 59.05 J. The hemp fibers were treated with NaOH solution before fabrication. Material characterization such as X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy and morphological studies has been carried out. The impact and post-impact properties of the proposed composites are experimentally evaluated and validated with the finite element (FE) results. The effect on the residual tensile strength degradation of laminates at different interlayers and energy levels is also investigated using the Caprino analytical model. The barely visible impact damages (BVID) are investigated through non-destructive dye-penetration tests, which facilitate easy identification of the prominent LVI damages like “Plateau” and “Cliff-drop” impressions. Based on the impact energy absorption and residual tensile strength, proposed laminates followed BHPuHB > BBBB > BHHB > HHHH. The experimentation suggests that Polyurethane core laminates support maximum impact energy absorption by favoring a structural change in interlayers. Also, the residual tensile strength decreases as impact velocity increases. Highlights: Low-velocity impact behavior of sustainable composites is experimented. Basalt, hemp and polyurethane rubber are reinforced in nano clay epoxy matrix. A FE framework to validate the experimentation is proposed. Dye penetrant NDT is adopted to investigate the damages. Morphological studies are conducted to understand LVI responses. © 2024 Society of Plastics Engineers.