search on armor ceramics created only limited success in its search for relations between mechanical properties and the ballistic efficiency of this class of materials. Also TNO performed research on this subject using a range of experimental test set-ups (mainly using small and mid-caliber rounds) and diagnostic tools on a range of ceramic materials and various tile thicknesses. This research has highlighted the large role that inertia (mass) plays during the projectile-target interaction process, which proved to be more dominant than the mechanical ceramic material properties. In fact, all our experimental results on the performance of ceramic armors, can be well understood from an inertia point of view. This includes the widely accepted (increasing) order in ballistic efficiency of the most used armor ceramics when tested at equal areal density: Alumina, SiC, B4C. Based on the gained knowledge, TNO has developed an engineering model for ceramic based armor (ceramic strike face with/without a backing material) that can quantify the projectile-target interaction and quite accurately calculates the mass-loss and deceleration of the projectile in a time-resolved manner. Understanding the large role of inertia could change the direction of the development of advanced armor ceramics.
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