Abstract
Inspired by the theories of Tate and Zaera, a theoretical analysis model including the erosion of the projectile, the cracking of ceramic composites, and the deformation of metal backplate was established in this study to investigate the bulletproof capability of the ceramic composites under impact by an armor piecing projectile (AP). The analysis results were verified by ballistic tests. As for the ceramic composites, the volume of the cracked ceramic conoid and the change in the compressive strength were included. Regarding the deformation of the metal backplate, the plastic deformation work, the external work, and the conservation of kinetics were considered. Based on the thickness of the target plate, failure modes were separated into the plug type and the petal type. The ordinary differential equation solver of MATLAB, ode45, was adopted to solve relevant ordinary differential equations. In this study, the powder metallurgy was used to produce the Al2O3/ZrO2 multilayered ceramic composites of three layers; each layer was 3 mm in thickness. The ceramic composites were paired with a backplate made of 6061-T6 aluminum alloy with a thickness of either 1 mm or 4 mm. The ballistic tests were executed by using 0.30″ AP projectiles to impact the specimens. The results from theoretical model and ballistic tests were compared and shown consistent in the field of residual velocity, residual bullet mass, and the failure modes of the metal backplate.
Highlights
No single material can exert optimal effectiveness as protective armor
Composite materials composed of two or more materials can address the weaknesses of any single material
If the impact velocity is far faster than the ballistic limit velocity, the bullet will completely penetrate the ceramic structure and will contact the metal backplate without causing substantial bending to the backplate. erefore, equation (16) was modified to show the work and rate of change of work of the bullet on the metal backplate as
Summary
No single material can exert optimal effectiveness as protective armor. Composite materials composed of two or more materials can address the weaknesses of any single material. The ceramic front plate and the tough metal backplate have different values of elastic modulus, hardness, and density; these differences cause impedance mismatches in the waves between the layers. Under the impact of a projectile, the reflective tensile wave causes severe damage to the ceramic front plate. To reduce the delamination of the ceramic plate and the metal plate and to reduce the damage from reflection waves, functionally graded materials (FGMs) are utilized. Several theoretical models have described ceramic-metal composite target plates struck by projectiles. Most models only describe target plates with ceramics as the single component. Is study established theoretical models of projectiles impacting functionally graded ceramics-aluminum alloy composite target plates and compared the theoretical results with the experimental results Most models only describe target plates with ceramics as the single component. is study established theoretical models of projectiles impacting functionally graded ceramics-aluminum alloy composite target plates and compared the theoretical results with the experimental results
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