The study on the preparation of AlON transparent ceramic and its ballistic resistance

Abstract

The AlON transparent ceramic was widely used as a strike-surface layer for transparent armor because of its outstanding mechanical and optical properties. With the same protection capability, the AlON transparent ceramic armor can significantly reduce surface density and thickness compared with bulletproof glass, which can effectively improve the lightweight of armed helicopters and armored vehicles. In this work, AlON transparent ceramics were fabricated by sintering AlON powder sintered at 1960°C, which was synthesized by the method of carbothermic reduction and nitridation. More than 99.8% of the relative density of the samples of AlON ceramics was kept under hot isostatic pressing for 30 hours. The maximum visible light transmission of the AlON transparent ceramic sample amounted to more than 80 %, and the flexural strength and Vickers hardness can reach up to 350 MPa and 15 GPa respectively, exhibiting excellent ballistic performance. When 53-type 7.62 mm API hit AlON transparent ceramic, there are radial and circumferential modes during its crack growth process, which can guide the structural design of the transparent ceramic armor.