Novel Lamination Method for Large Armor Panels

摘要

A new technique was developed for fast, energy efficient glass lamination. Therntechnology can be used for many laminated armor systems including transparent armor. Thernmethod uses a radio frequency press to apply energy directly to the interlayer bonding materials,rnwhere the heat is needed. A 90% decrease in the energy required for lamination wasrndemonstrated. The structural layers, such as the glass or ceramic strike face and polycarbonaternspall shield, are not directly heated by RF energy. Energy is not wasted in the unnecessaryrnheating of the structural materials. RF lamination replaces the slow energy intensive autoclavingrnbatch process, and allows a fast semi-continuous process which takes less than five minutes.rnLamination of systems up to 6 ft~2 have been demonstrated, with up to 24 ft~2 of materialsrnlaminated at the same time.