Statistical Tensile Strength for High Strain Rate of Aramid and UHMWPE Fibers

Dynamic tensile impact properties of aramid (Technora) and UHMWPE (DC851) fiber bundles were studied at two high strain rates by means of reflecting type Split Hopkinson Bar, and stress-strain curves of fiber yarns at different strain rates were obtained. Experimental results show that the initial elastic modulus, failure strength and unstable strain of aramid fiber yarns are strain rate insensitive, whereas the initial elastic modulus and unstable strain of UHMWPE fiber yarns are strain rate sensitive. A fiber-bundle statistical constitutive equation was used to describe the tensile behavior of aramid and UHMWPE fiber bundles at high strain rates. The good consistency between the simulated results and experimental data indicates that the modified double Weibull function can represent the tensile strength distribution of aramid and UHMWPE fibers and the method of extracting Weibull parameters from fiber bundles stress-strain data is valid.