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Ballistic Damage Mechanisms of Ceramic/Backing Plate Armor



Ceramic materials have low density, high hardness, and wear resistance, but they have poor ability to withstand tension or bending. Thus, when they are used in protective armors that can resist bullet penetration, they need a tough backplate. Owing to their excellent high temperature and impact resistance, ceramics are widely used in armor-piercing firebombs and projectile fragments.To get more news about Hard Armor Plates, you can visit bulletproofboxs.com official website.

Ceramic/backing plate armors have a hard, brittle ceramic in the front and a deformable material in the back. The different physical properties of the front and back layers interfere with the penetration of projectile fragments. It is challenging to achieve an optimal configuration and lowest area density for armors used in military armored vehicles, armed helicopters, and body protective gear.

Low-cost, lightweight ceramic/backing plate armors are a relatively better option to resist serious threats. Extensive research has been conducted on the structure, material characteristics, and ballistic damage mechanisms of the armor in search of better and more robust armors.
The Study
In the present study, researchers investigated the ballistic damage mechanism of ceramic/backing plate armor along with its residual bearing capacity.

They first prepared a range of lightweight armors made of ceramic/UHMWPE plates. While the ceramic was the front plate, the UHMWPE was the backing plate, and it was named ceramic/UHMWPE armor. The armors were covered in a high-strength fabric.

Two types of ceramic plates were used - integral or spliced - and they were subjected to shooting experiments, where the team hit the ceramic/UHMWPE armors with one or two bullets and then subjected them to compression testing.

The failure mode of the armors and crack propagation law were explored and compared among different ceramic/UHMWPE armors. As the last step, the researchers introduced residual strength to assess the safety of the armors with impact damage and discussed the factors affecting armor safety.The results showed that ceramic brittle fracture was the main failure mode of the ceramic/UHMWPE armors. The multiple zigzag patterns observed on the compression curve suggested that the specimens had passed through the following stages: 1) crack propagation, 2) ceramic fragment reorganization, 3) plastic deformation of UHMWPE backing plate, 4) interlaminar tearing, and 5) overall fracture.

The dislocation between ceramic sheets was the main reason for the failure of spliced ceramic/UHMWPE armors. As indicated by the smooth compression curves, no recombination of ceramic fragments or interlayer debonding occurred during the compression.

Ceramic/UHMWPE armors with ballistic damage did not promptly break and fail under the maximum load. The ceramic plates’ structure and thickness affected the residual strength. Under the same structure, an increase in thickness led to an increase in the residual strength, although their relationship was not linear. The residual strength of the spliced armor was higher under the same thickness.

Residual strength was also linked to the number of shots. For instance, the residual strength of the armor after being hit by two bullets was only one-third of its strength after being hit by one bullet.