Advanced Ceramics for Personnel Armor: Current Status and Future

Abstract

The use of advanced ceramics for personnel armor allows the defeating of the projectile and the ballistic impact energy dissipation providing adequate ballistic protection. The development of lightweight and inexpensive ceramic armor is under ongoing attention by both ceramic armor manufacturers and armor users. Some achievements in the development of ceramics for personnel armor are summarized. These ceramics include alumina ceramics with an Al 2 O 3 content of 97-99.7 wt.-%, newly developed lower-weight alumina-mullite ceramics, new silicon carbide-based ceramics developed in the systems of SiC-Al 2 O 3 , SiC-Si 3 N 4 -Al 2 O 3 , as well as some reaction-bonded carbide-based ceramics studied jointly with some organizations. The main properties of the considered ceramics, which affect ballistic performance, are examined and analyzed as a function of composition and structure. Only a combination of all relevant physical properties and microstructure, including the ability to dissipate ballistic energy, as well as optimization of manufacturing processes, should be considered for proper selection and evaluation of armor ceramics. It has been demonstrated that not only dense homogeneous advanced ceramics, but also heterogeneous materials with optimal compositions and structures, have remarkable ballistic performance. Depending on requirements for' ballistic protection, armor systems may be designed to various configurations and weights based on the most suitable ceramic materials selected for specific applications. Body armor plates based on the studied ceramics provide ballistic protection to NU Level III and IV, including for satisfactory multi-hit performance, depending on the type and thickness of ceramics and backing materials. The directions of the further improvements and developments of armor ceramics and systems with lower weight or/ and with increased performance for personnel protection are discussed.