Ballistic and impact resistance performance of natural fiber-reinforced composites from biomass resources

Plant fibers are increasingly evolving as suitable natural substitutes to the synthetic and non-ecofriendly Kevlar, polyamide, and Dyneema fibers due to their availability and the drive towards maximum cost saving, sustainable manufacturing, and environmental friendliness. This set of fibers offers unique characteristics like comparatively low weight, high impact toughness, specific strength, and modulus. Considering the plethora of explored and unexplored plant fibers available in the world, extending the application frontiers of plant fibers to defense needs/ballistic impact resistance has remained an interesting and growing research area. This review provides a detailed appraisal of the ballistic impact performances of plant fiber-reinforced polymeric composites together with their multilayer armour systems available in the literature. It covers the ballistic impact phenomena of hard frontal and soft armour composites as well as the impact of composite properties such as thickness, stacking sequence, fiber distribution, and fiber volume percentage on the impact energy absorption and other ballistic properties of plant-fiber-reinforced composites. Insights on possible research prospects to advance the ballistic impact resistance of plant fiber-reinforced composites are also provided in this paper. • Ballistic impact mechanisms of different sets of plant fiber-reinforced composites. • In-depth appraisal of ballistic performances of fiber-reinforced composites. • Role of materials, and projectile-related factors on ballistic impact. • Strategies for improving ballistic impacts of plant fiber-reinforced composites. • Future research direction towards ballistic impact enhancement.