Understanding the ballistic event: methodology and initial observations

Abstract

The purpose of the study is to accelerate the development of ceramic materials for armour applications by substantially increasing the information obtained from a high-energy projectile impact event. This has been achieved by modifying an existing test configuration to incorporate a block of ballistic gel, attached to the strike face of a ceramic armour system, to capture fragments generated during the ballistic event such that their final positions are maintained. Three different materials, representative of the major classes of ceramics for armour applications, alumina, silicon carbide, and boron carbide, have been tested using this system. Ring-on-ring biaxial disc testing has also been carried out on the same materials. Qualitative analysis of the fracture surfaces using scanning electron microscopy and surface roughness quantification, via stereo imaging, has shown that the fracture surfaces of biaxial fragments and ballistic fragments recovered from the edges of the tile are indistinguishable. Although the alumina and boron carbide fragments generated from areas closer to the point of impact were also similar, the silicon carbide fragments showed an increase in porosity with respect to the fragments from further away and from biaxial testing. This porosity was found to result from the loss of a boron-rich second phase, which was widespread elsewhere in the material, although the relevance of this to ballistic performance needs further investigation. The technique developed in this work will help facilitate such studies.

Comparison of Numerical Simulation Techniques of Ballistic Ceramics under Projectile Impact Conditions

“…One of the basic materials used in layered armors is ballistic ceramic [ 7 , 8 , 9 ] exhibiting significantly higher hardness and wave impedance than steel [ 10 , 11 ]. Ceramic elements in armor structures are mainly used as a frontal layer.…”

Numerical and Experimental Study of Ceramic/Steel Composite for Structural Applications

“…Normally, the ability of armour to stop bullets, ballistics effectiveness, is not determined by visual inspection but must be inferred from the results of live-firing test [40]. Sintered alumina ceramic (10 ×120 ×120 mm) prepared by sintering process [26] was used as the facial plate; and Table 4 gives the physical properties of the sintered alumina (AC-86.6).…”

Numerical simulation of multi-hit impact on Ceramic/Composite armor

“…Therefore, the subsequent projectile could finally perforate the backing. Figure 3 : Illustration of delamination in a 2D woven composite backing [17].…”