Design And Fabrication Of A New Ceramic Composite Armor Panels

During the past years a great deal of interest has been devoted to the study of ceramic composite armors due to their potential applications in defense. Composite armors are made by enwinding ceramic plate and metal plate with glass-fiber cords.The bullet-proof mechanism of the armors and the major factors that influence the bullet-proof property are studied to optimize structure of the composite armors, aiming at reducing the weight and improving the bullet-proof property of the composite armors.Epikote was selected for use in the composite armor ballistic system because of its excellent performance. Based on the production efficiency and quality of the armor, the addition of the curing agent was optimized by analyzing the effect of the amount of curing agent on curing time.The effect of the amount of diluent on curing properties was also analyzed. The optimal epikote system was finally determined.Based on the results of impact test, the function of the enwound glass-fiber cord was studied. The results show that the enwinding glass-fiber cords can improve the impact properties of the specimens, and add restraint to the ceramics.Based on the results of actual bullet shooting,the bullet-proof mechanism of composite armor was studied by observing and analyzing the damage of the armors after they have been impacted by steel-cored bullets. The results show that the bullet-proof property increases with increasing thickness of the ceramic plate in the armors.The composite armor with SiC as the ceramic layer has better bullet-proof properties due to the high hardness and high dynamic compressive yield strength of the SiC ceramic.The location of steel plate also influences the bullet-proof property.