A large number of composite structures have curvatures, e.g., pressure vessels, radomes, andcomposite containers, etc. Ballistic penetration resistance and damage mechanisms of thesestructures are of great interest, and are the main focus of this computational investigation.Recently, a progressive composite damage model, MAT 162, has been used to model ballisticimpact, damage, and penetration of thick-section composite plate made from plain-weave (PW)S-2 Glass/SC15 composites [1, 2]. These validated material properties and parameters are usedto study the effect of curvature on the penetration mechanics behavior of thick-sectioncomposites. In this paper, finite element (FE) models of S-2 Glass/SC15 thick sectioncomposites with different curvatures are developed. Mesh definition is the same for all the cases,and the curvatures used are 0 m~(-1) (flat panel), and 7.8 m~(-1) (semi-cylinder). In order to investigatethe penetration mechanics of these structures, a cylinder projectile is impacted on these structuresfrom outside towards the center of curvature, and vice versa. Effect of curvature on ballisticlimit, damage growth, energy dissipation, and damage mechanisms are presented.
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