Various Ceramics in Multilayer Composite Ground Vehicle Armor.

摘要

These briefing charts describe the use of various ceramics in multilayer composite ground vehicle armor. One material that is planned for pilot production is silicon nitride as a material solution for pellets in a pellet armor approach to ground vehicle armor. One of the pilot program's aims is cost reduction, from $200/Kg to $20/Kg. As described in filed patents, armor constructed of assembled ceramic pellets suspended in a matrix binder performs better at defeating the same weight of armor made from a monolithic tile of the same ceramic. The force dynamics are significantly different for the interaction of pellets versus isolated tiles. Potential applications for this material are in personal armor, satellites, light attack vessels, critical shipboard areas, and the Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle (EFV). Different types of ceramics have different costs, and ceramics made by different processes have distinctly different strengths and weaknesses. The charts include the names and descriptions of three major ceramic insert manufacturers and four major ceramic armor assemblers/finishers. The final chart presents photographs of potential applications for very light armors.