Anti-penetration Performance and Damage Mechanism of Three-layer Composite Ceramic Armor

doi:10.12382/bgxb.2022.0319

Abstract

Abstract:

In order to investigate the effects of composite structural parameters of Kevlar/SiC-TC4-UHMWPE composite target plates with the same areal density on their anti-ballistic performances and their failure mechanisms,the samples of four different thickness combinations of target plates were selected,and the ballistic impact tests were conducted using 12.7mm armor-piercing incendiary (API) projectiles at the same impact velocity (488m/s). A scanning electron microscopy(SEM) was used to study the damage mode of composite armor plate under ballistic penetration. The experimental results show that the Kevlar/SiC-TC4-UHMWPE composite target plate with a thickness combination of 8mm+2mm+10mm under the described experimental conditions is the best structure for anti-penetration engineering. The anti-ballistic performance of the composite armor plate is improved by about 29.69% under the same areal density conditions when 1mm thick ceramic is replaced by a TC4 titanium alloy back plate (about 0.5mm thick) with the same areal density. This indicates that the structural parameters of titanium alloy have a greater impact on the anti-ballistic performance of the composite armor plate than those of SiC. In addition, the surface density of titanium alloy backplate is increased not only to enhance its support for ceramics, but also increase the time for projectile-target interaction, thus improving the overall protection performance of composite target plate. The damage mode of the composite armor plate after being penetrated by a 12.7mm API projectile includes SiC fragmentation, the small uplift deformation, “cross” stretching and tearing damage of titanium alloy back plate, and the shear fracture, interlayer separation and fiber stretching of UHMWPE composite fiber back plate. In the design of the overall composite armor, the high-shear resistant materials should be placed in the front layers of the back plate, while the high-tensile resistant materials should be placed in the back layers of the back plate in order to fully utilize each material.

Key words: ceramic composite armor, bullet-proof performance, damage mechanism, ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene, armour-piercing incendiary cartridge

CLC Number:

TJ012.4

YU Yilei, WANG Xiaodong, REN Wenke, GAO Guangfa. Anti-penetration Performance and Damage Mechanism of Three-layer Composite Ceramic Armor[J]. Acta Armamentarii, 2024, 45(1): 44-57.

Figures/Tables 20

Table 1 Properties of SiC ceramics, TC4 titanium alloy plates and T12A for testing

材料	弹性模量/GPa	密度/ (kg·m^-3)	泊松比	屈服强度/MPa	硬度	断裂韧性/ (MPa·m^1/2)
SiC陶瓷	3196	3150	0.16		9.5^*	3.4
TC4钛合金	106.1	4530	0.33	1040	30
T12A钢	197	7830	0.30	3544	58^#

Table 2 Properties of UHMWPE laminated composite[22]

E₁₁/ GPa	E₂₂/ GPa	E₃₃/ GPa	ν₁₂	ν₁₃	ν₂₃	G₁₁/ GPa	G₂₂/ GPa	G₃₃/ GPa
153	11.3	11.3	0.3	0.3	0.4	6	6	3.6
X_T/ MPa	X_C/ MPa	Y_T/ MPa	Y_C/ MPa	S_T/ MPa	S_C/ MPa	ρ/ (g·cm^-3)
2357	1580	130	650	340	180	0.96

Table 3 Specifications of Kevlar/SiC-TC4-UHMWPE composite target plate fortest

实验编号	Kevlar/SiC-TC4-UHMWPE复合靶板配置			复合靶板总厚度/ mm	面密度/(kg·m^-2)
实验编号	SiC陶瓷厚度/mm	TC4钛合金板厚度/mm	UHMWPE纤维板厚度/mm	复合靶板总厚度/ mm	面密度/(kg·m^-2)
1	11±0.20		10±0.20	21.31±0.01	44.58
2	11±0.20		10±0.20	21.57±0.01	44.32
3	10.00±0.20	1.00±0.10	10.00±0.20	21.12±0.01	45.24
4	10.00±0.20	1.00±0.10	10.00±0.20	22.01±0.01	44.95
5	9.00±0.20	1.50±0.10	10.00±0.20	20.96±0.01	44.31
6	9.00±0.20	1.50±0.10	10.00±0.20	21.03±0.01	44.69
7	8.00±0.20	2.00±0.10	10.00±0.20	20.84±0.01	44.75
8	8.00±0.20	2.00±0.10	10.00±0.20	20.95±0.01	43.32

Fig.1 Schematic diagram of test route

Table 4 Projectile penetration velocity and ballistic test results of Kevlar/SiC-TC4-UHMWPE composite target plate

实验编号	靶板规格	v₀/(m·s^-1)	H/mm	d/mm	t/mm	毁伤状况
1	11Kevlar/SiC-10UHMWPE	499.3	87.32	108.32		CP
2	11Kevlar/SiC-10UHMWPE	495.7	85.18	104.68	1.5	CP
3	10Kevlar/SiC-1TC4-10*UHMWPE	520.2	78.05	96.65	2.4	CP
4	10Kevlar/SiC-1TC4-10*UHMWPE	500.9	73.19	92.19	2.0	CP
5	9Kevlar/SiC-1.5TC4-10*UHMWPE	495.5	62.35	80.05	2.8	CP
6	9Kevlar/SiC-1.5TC4-10*UHMWPE	480.9	57.53	75.03	3.0	CP
7	8Kevlar/SiC-2TC4-10*UHMWPE	505.4	49.76	66.16	3.6	CP
8	8Kevlar/SiC-2TC4-10*UHMWPE	493.0	46.28	62.48	3.8	CP

Fig.2 Schematic diagram of measuring maximum penetration depth and residual target plate thickness

Fig.3 Multiscale damage morphologies of projectile core fragments

Fig.4 Mass distribution of projectile core fragments

Fig.5 Quality and quantity of fragments of >4.0mm projectile core

Fig.6 Damage morphologies of ceramic panels

Fig.7 Forming process of ceramic cone

Table 5 Mathematical statistical results of half-cone angle and radial cracks of ceramic

序号	D_t/ mm	D_b/ mm	陶瓷半锥角			径向裂纹数
序号	D_t/ mm	D_b/ mm	样本数量	样本均值 $θ ¯$ / (°)	测量不确定度 max{\| $θ ¯$ -θ\|}/ (°)	径向裂纹数
1	25.26	109.98	7	69.54	2.19	13
2	25.71	110.12	9	69.83	2.62	15
3	25.73	110.81	10	70.18	3.16	10
4	25.62	108.51	11	71.26	2.78	12
5	24.39	110.26	7	74.89	1.24	11
6	25.81	103.17	7	72.14	1.68	9
7	24.27	103.85	6	78.31	3.41	7
8	25.98	107.18	8	77.43	3.15	8

Table 5 Mathematical statistical results of half-cone angle and radial cracks of ceramic

序号	D_t/ mm	D_b/ mm	陶瓷半锥角			径向裂纹数
序号	D_t/ mm	D_b/ mm	样本数量	样本均值 $θ ¯$ / (°)	测量不确定度 max{\| $θ ¯$ -θ\|}/ (°)	径向裂纹数
1	25.26	109.98	7	69.54	2.19	13
2	25.71	110.12	9	69.83	2.62	15
3	25.73	110.81	10	70.18	3.16	10
4	25.62	108.51	11	71.26	2.78	12
5	24.39	110.26	7	74.89	1.24	11
6	25.81	103.17	7	72.14	1.68	9
7	24.27	103.85	6	78.31	3.41	7
8	25.98	107.18	8	77.43	3.15	8

Fig.8 Half-cone angles and number of radial cracks of ceramics for different target structures

Fig.9 Multiscale damage morphologies of titanium alloy back sheets

Fig.10 Displacement field of titanium alloy back plate

Fig.11 Damage morphology of UHMWPE laminated fiber board at macroscopic scale

Fig.12 Digitally processed damage morphology of UHMWPE laminated fiber board

Table 6 Conical bulge height and edge necking distance of UHMWPE laminated fiberboardlaminated fiberboard

参数	实验1 11Kevlar/SiC-10UHMWPE				实验2 11Kevlar/SiC-10UHMWPE
H/mm	87.32				85.18
D/mm	20.19	26.34	18.42	26.98	10.75	28.10	19.17	24.65
参数	实验3 10Kevlar/SiC-1TC4-10*UHMWPE				实验4 10Kevlar/SiC-1TC4-10*UHMWPE
H/mm	78.05				73.19
D/mm	29.32	20.20	19.90	14.91	25.45	10.17	29.20	31.56
参数	实验5 9Kevlar/SiC-1.5TC4-10*UHMWPE				实验6 9Kevlar/SiC-1.5TC4-10*UHMWPE
H/mm	62.35				57.53
D/mm	17.62	6.33	22.78	25.64	17.46	28.10	18.23	7.61
参数	实验7 8Kevlar/SiC-2TC4-10*UHMWPE				实验8 8Kevlar/SiC-2TC4-10*UHMWPE
H/mm	49.76				46.28
D/mm	17.82	18.62	11.18	7.29	10.53	13.18	13.69	10.13

Fig.13 Displacement field of UHMWPE laminated fiber board

Fig.14 SEM micrograph of UHMWPE laminated fiberboard

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