Determine the Feasibility of Fabricating Polypropylene Spherical Armor Radomes for Protection from a Level II Fragmentation Threat

摘要

This program has as its objective the determination of the feasibility of fabricating polypropylene armor radomes. These radomes are required to provide protection for radar antennas from a Level II fragmentation threat. Four inch thick PP armor will be required to meet this threat level. The plan was to develop processes based on the present state-of-the-art technology to fabricate four inch thick spherical radome sections, and to investigate edge-to-edge joining of flat polypropylene armor panels. The thick spherical molding are beyond the present technology and will require a new tooling and production approach. The present technology is limited to one inch thick flat panels. The manufacture of several four inch thick radome shell sections with a 60 inch spherical radius established the feasibility of this approach. These panels were submitted to the Naval Research Laboratory for performance evaluation. Adhesive and fusion bonded edge-to-edge joining methods were also developed. The systems evaluated indicate the feasibility of obtaining structural joints of PP armor panels. (Author)