Cultural Heritage Management: Preserving and Promoting Cultural Treasures

This article delves into the profound and transcendent concept of cosmic beauty as it relates to the natural world. Through an exploration of awe-inspiring landscapes, celestial phenomena, and the intricate web of life on Earth, we examine the capacity of nature to evoke deep aesthetic experiences. This multidisciplinary inquiry draws from philosophy, science, and the arts to unravel the profound connection between human consciousness and the cosmic beauty inherent in the universe.

Composite Material Solution for Armoring

Textile composite materials are extensively used for high-tech applications like aerospace, ballistics, automotive, sports, etc. Ballistics are one of the hot research topics owing to the law and order issues around the globe. Conventionally the ballistic composite materials are produced by laminating 2D fabrics. The composite materials fabricated from 3D woven textile reinforcement are widely studied for different applications, but fewer products are being manufactured from them. This research focused to investigate the effect of fillers on the performance of 2D laminated composites and weaving parameters (stuffer yarn count and binding thread density) on the ballistic performance of 3D composite materials. Firstly, the composites were fabricated using silica nano-fillers to reinforce the Kevlar/epoxy composites. It was found that the addition of silica nano-fillers results in the formation of hybrid composite materials that offer improved flexural, tensile and impact properties. Optimum properties were obtained at a filler concentration of 8%. Limited data is available on the properties of 3D woven structures and the associated composite materials. Therefore, the subsequent studies investigated the effect of weaving parameters (stuffer yarn count and binding thread density) on the properties of 3D woven structures. An extensive experimentation was performed to understand the behavior of 3D woven structures using flax fibre, owing to the high cost of para-aramid. Novel hybrid 3D woven structures were produced, and it was seen that increase in stitching points in a 3D structure increase the mechanical properties and energy absorption of the fabric. Similarly, addition of stuffer yarn in the 3D woven structure leads to improved mechanical properties. Based on the performance of the developed composites, structures with better performance were reproduced with para-aramid to fabricate composite materials. The energy absorption behviour of these composite materials was investigated using an indigenously developed setup. The energy absorption was also modelled numerically for these composites to validate the experimental results. It was found that the woven structure with more stuffer yarns and high binding density exhibits better performance and can be potentially used to produce the ballistic vest.