## 1 Introduction
Besides, the fabric and yarn density has shown a great impact on its various formability characteristics of 3D warp interlock preforms while deformation. The 3D warp interlock fabrics have also shown good elastic behavior [38], due to their low shear rigidity as compared to other woven fabric structures. However, besides the molding behavior, ballistic protection performances of the material are also a very critical parameter that should be considered while developing female body armor. Various studies have investigated and discussed regarding the ballistic performances of 3D warp interlock fabrics for soft body armor applications. For example, soft body armor made of 3D orthogonal woven, 3D angle interlock woven and 3D fully/partly interlaced woven as well as multi-axis 3D woven or knitted preforms have been investigated against ballistic performances [39; 40]. Besides, ballistic panels made of 3D woven fabrics revealed better molding ability and equivalent ballistic performance as compared to panels made from 2D plain weave fabric structures [41; 42]. This makes the fabric a promising material to develop the frontal women's soft body armor panel by properly accommodating the upper torso shape and the bust [3; 29]. Such behavior then gives both the comfort and enhanced ballistic performance by removing the stitching and other weakening material surface during traditional manufacturing. Even though the 3D warp angle-interlock fabrics possessed an excellent forming property, some researchers have also claimed that 3D warp interlock fabrics have shown less ballistic performance as compared to the traditional 2D plain weave fabrics. Our recent research studies have compared the energy absorbing capability and its BFS values of ballistic panels made of 2D plain and 3D warp interlock fabrics based on NJI-standard Level IIIA. Based on the result, the energy absorption capabilities of 3D warp interlock and 2D fabric panels with a higher number of layers did not reveal a significant difference. However, the 2D fabric panel absorbed more energy than 3D warp interlock fabrics for a reduced and similar number of layers due to its rigid and stiffness property [37; 43]. Therefore, very well understanding and improving the ballistic impact performances of the 3D warp interlock fabric before applying to female soft body armor development is very important. The current research investigates the ballistic performances of 3D warp interlock fabrics considering the involvements of different warp yarns (binding and stuffer) interchange ratios inside the structures. This greatly helps to determine an appropriate warp yarn orientation and interchange ratio inside the fabrics to enhance the ballistic performances of the 3D warp interlock fabrics. Besides, the investigation also compares the 3D warp interlock fabrics ballistic performance with the comparable 2D plain weave fabrics made with similar material and parameters. For this, different 3D warp interlock fabrics based on different binding: stuffer warp yarn interchange ratios inside the structure were designed, engineered and manufactured. The ballistic performance test was carried out according to the US NJI--National Institute of Justice (NJI) Standard-0101.06) in the confined division of Centre de Recherche et expertises de La Logistique (CREL) ballistic facility, Paris, France. The backface signature for each panel target shots was scanned using a precise portable scanner, modeled, and measured by the help of modeling software (Rapidform(r) and 3D design concept(r)). Moreover, two separate high-speed cameras were installed for stereoscope recording to capture and observe closely the overall ballistic phenomena. In general, the study will give a great insight into not only the effects of binding and stuffer warp yarns inside the 3D warp interlock structure but also the woven construction types (2D and 3D) on the ballistic performances as ballistic material in the developments of seamless women ballistic vest.