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Ballistic evaluation and damage characterization of 3‐D printed, alumina‐based ceramics for light armor applications
Author(s) -
Jones Tyrone L.,
VargasGonzalez Lionel R.,
Scott Brian,
Goodman Bill,
Becker Benjamin
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
international journal of applied ceramic technology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.4
H-Index - 57
eISSN - 1744-7402
pISSN - 1546-542X
DOI - 10.1111/ijac.13428
Subject(s) - materials science , armour , projectile , composite material , ceramic , characterization (materials science) , flexural strength , ballistic impact , aluminium , penetration (warfare) , nanotechnology , metallurgy , layer (electronics) , engineering , operations research
The goal of this work was to present results of mechanical characterization and ballistic investigation of 3‐D printed alumina (Al 2 O 3 )‐based armor plates, manufactured using two additive manufacturing‐based methods: pressurized spray deposition (PSD) and direct ink write (DIW), to determine the maturity of these additive‐based processes against the industry standard process. The DIW plates exhibited superior hardness, flexural strength, and density compared to the PSD plates, and in many respects, even eclipsed some of the properties of the commercial isopressed (IP) material. Plates (90 mm × 90 mm × 8 mm) of these composition were manufactured for ballistic analysis in accordance with established ballistic characterization procedures, using a 50.8‐mm‐thick Aluminum 6061 plate as backing and witness plates in the case of penetration or deformation. Six alumina plates were examined ballisitically (one shot per plate) against the 12.7 mm APM2 projectile (45.9 g) at an impact velocity of 840 m/second. The plates that were manufactured using the DIW method provided a higher impact resistance than the PSD method, however, both did not perform as well as the traditionally processed IP material, due to the presence of defects introduced due to the printing processes.