Composite armor philosophy(CAP):Holistic design methodology of multi-layered composite protection systems for armored vehicles

A philosophy for the design of novel,lightweight,multi-layered armor,referred to as Composite Armor Philosophy(CAP),which can adapt to the passive protection of light-,medium-,and heavy-armored vehicles,is presented in this study.CAP can serve as a guiding principle to assist designers in comprehending the distinct roles fulfilled by each component.The CAP proposal comprises four functional layers,organized in a suggested hierarchy of materials.Particularly notable is the inclusion of a ceramic-composite principle,representing an advanced and innovative solution in the field of armor design.This paper showcases real-world defense industry applications,offering case studies that demonstrate the effectiveness of this advanced approach.CAP represents a significant milestone in the history of passive protection,marking an evolutionary leap in the field.This philosophical approach provides designers with a powerful toolset with which to enhance the protection capabilities of military vehicles,making them more resilient and better equipped to meet the challenges of modern warfare.

Numerical Simulation and Experimental Research on Penetration of Composite Ceramic Armor by Rod Projectile

The performance of composite ceramic armor penetrated by rod projectile was studied by both numerical simulation and experiment.The penetration and damage mechanisms of the projectile-armor after high-speed collision were also observed by high-speed photography.The experimental results showed that the ballistic performance of composite ceramic armor was highly affected by the density,hardness and toughness of bulletproof ceramic.The flow stress of the failed bulletproof ceramic is not only related to the pressure but also related to the strain rate.The phenomenological method based on Bodner-Partom ceramic model was introduced to derive the growth rate of damage.Numerical simulation results show good agreement with the experimental results.

Penetration resistance of Al_(2)O_(3) ceramic-ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene(UHMWPE)composite armor:Experimental and numerical investigations

To enhance the protective performance of ceramic composite armor,ballistic penetration experiments were conducted on Al_(2)O_(3) ceramic-ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene(UHMWPE)composite armor with different thickness configurations.The damage and failure modes of hard projectiles and ceramic-fiber composite targets were analyzed.The recovered projectiles and ceramic fragments were sieved and weighed at multiple stages,revealing a positive correlation between the degree of fragmentation of the projectiles and ceramics and the overall ballistic resistance of the composite targets.Numerical simulations were performed using the LS-DYNA finite element software,and the simulation results showed high consistency with the experimental results,confirming the validity of the material parameters.The results indicate that the projectile heads primarily exhibited crushing and abrasive fragmentation.Larger projectile fragments mainly resulted from tensile and shear stress-induced failure.The failure modes of the composite targets included the formation of ceramic cones and radial cracks under high-velocity impacts.The UHMWPE laminated plates exhibited interlayer separation caused by tensile waves,permanent plastic deformation of the rear surface bulging,and perforation failure primarily due to shear forces.Through extended numerical simulations,while maintaining the same areal density and configuration of9 mm Al_(2)O_(3) ceramic+12 mm UHMWPE laminated composite armor,the thickness configurations of the Al_(2)O_(3) ceramic and UHMWPE laminated backplates were varied,and various thicknesses of UHMWPE laminates were simulated as the cover layer for the ceramic panels.The simulation results indicated that the composite armor configuration of 10 mm Al_(2)O_(3) ceramic+8 mm UHMWPE composite armor increased energy absorption by13.48%.When altering the cover layer thickness,a 4 mm UHMWPE+9 mm Al_(2)O_(3)+8 mm UHMWPE composite armor demonstrated a 27.11%improvement in energy absorption,showing a relatively significant enhancement.

Reactive-sintering B_4C matrix composite for armor applications

The B4C matrix composite intended for armor applications still presents restrictions,such as low sintering density,production of large parts and inherited brittleness Herein,research on this topic is discussed in detail.First the material outlook of armor applications is organized from the development of composite armor and ceramic materials for armor to the B4C matrix composite and reactive-sintering method.In the second section,the technologies are reviewed for reactive pressureless sintering reactive hot-pressing sintering,reactive discharge plasma sintering and self-propagating high-temperature sintering Thereafter,our previous works on the TiB2/SiC/B4C composite and laminated Ti/B4C composite are employed to illustrate their microstructural evolution,phase transformation and fracture model.These studies provide a potential method for producing tough and high-strength ceramic composites for armor application.In the fina section,the mechanism,evaluation method and influencing factors of anti-penetration for ceramic armor and B4C matrix composite are reviewed.

Enhancement in ballistic performance of composite hard armor through carbon nanotubes

The use of carbon nanotubes in composite hard armor is discussed in this study.The processing techniques to make various armor composite panels consisting of Kevlar■29 woven fabric in an epoxy matrix and the subsequent V50 test results for both 44 caliber soft-point rounds and 30 caliber FSP(fragment simulated projectile)threats are presented.A 6.5%improvement in the V50 test results was found for a combination of 1.65 wt%loading of carbon nanotubes and 1.65 wt%loading of milled fibers.The failure mechanism of carbon nanotubes during the ballistic event is discussed through scanning electron microscope images of the panels after the failure.Raman Spectroscopy was also utilized to evaluate the residual strain in the Kevlar■29 fibers post shoot.The Raman Spectroscopy shows a Raman shift of 25 cm^(−1) for the Kevlar■29 fiber utilized in the composite panel that had an enhancement in the V50 performance by using milled fiber and multi-walled carbon nanotubes.Evaluating both scenarios where an improvement was made and other panels without any improvement allows for understanding of how loading levels and synergistic effects between carbon nanotubes and milled fibers can further enhance ballistic performance.