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.

Effect of NiAl content on phases and microstructures of TiC-TiB_2-NiAl composites fabricated by reaction synthesis

TiC-TiB2-NiAl composites were fabricated by self-propagating high temperature reaction synthesis（SHS） with Ti, B4C, Ni and Al powders as raw materials. The effects of NiAl content on phase constituents and microstructures were investigated. The results show that the reaction products are composed of TiB2, TiC and NiAl. The content of NiAl increases with the adding of Ni＋Al in green compacts. TiB2, TiC and NiAl grains present in different shapes in the matrix, TiB2 being in hexagonal or rectangular shapes, TiC in spherical shapes, and NiAl squeezed into the gaps of TiC and TiB2 grains. With the increase of NiAl content, the grains of TiC-TiB2-NiAl composites are refined, their density and compressive strength are improved, and the shapes of TiC grains become spherical instead of irregular ones. Finally, the fracture mechanism of the composites transforms from intergranular fracture mode to the compounded fracture mode of intergranular fracture and transgranular fracture.