A Collection of Papers Presented at the 39th International Conference on Advanced Ceramics and Composites
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Preface
Introduction
Over the last years, TNO's Laboratory for Ballistic Research has focused its R&D on the subject of armor ceramics. Several specially designed experimental techniques including an alternative test method have been developed for the evaluation of ceramic based armor. Armor grade ceramics and a range of combined materials have been tested using 7.62 AP rounds. Using the energy method, the dwell‐time...
The US Army Research Laboratory conducted an initial study to characterize the material properties and armor performance of low‐density ceramic composite tiles manufactured by the Ukrainian National Academy of Science, under Army International Technology Center contract. These ceramic formulations were compared to standard armor grade boron carbide and silicon carbide tiles versus the 12.7‐mm APM2...
Unlike standard architectural or automotive glazing, thick multi‐layered transparent armor (TA) absorbs a large fraction of impinging light, perceptibly dimming the view. Therefore, stringent light transmittance requirements play an important role in TA material selection, but constructing prototypes to test the optical properties of every proposed TA formula is exorbitant. This paper demonstrates...
This paper introduces the operator training and development of performance metrics that are simultaneously implemented by a novel program for microwave nondestructive testing (NDT) of composite ceramic armor. A Portable Automated Microwave Scanning System (PAMSS) and accompanying Hand‐Held Tool (HHT) are developed for efficient condition assessment of composite ceramic armor, in‐situ on vehicles....
This paper discusses the synthesis of the Boron carbide (B4C) powders by the carbothermal reduction (CTR) reaction of molecular‐scale mixed boron trioxide (B2O3) and carbon. Herein, low cost, water soluble boric acid and sucrose are used as the boron trioxide and carbon precursors, respectively, which are mixed in water and they yield uniform precursor mixture after 800°C pyrolysis. CTR of pyrolyzed...
Boron carbide is an important strategic material due to high hardness, mechanical properties and neutron absorption cross‐section which make it an attractive material for micro‐electronic, nuclear, military and medicine. Boron carbide is regarded as the third hardest material after diamond and cubic boron nitride. It has various excellent properties such as, high melting point (>2400°C), outstanding...
Amorphous Boron Nitride (a‐BN) is an important starting material for the synthesis of cubic BN (c‐BN). The paper introduces the synthesis methods and the characteristics of a‐BN; it aims to make the readers understand the conversion of precursor chemicals to a‐BN; it also illustrates the effects of starting material and heat treatment conditions on the formation and characteristics of a‐BN. a‐BN has...
Cubic boron nitride (c‐BN) is one of the hardest materials, second only to diamond, and has been used in the fields of machining and grinding. Its low chemical reactivity with ferrous metals and high thermal stability in oxidizing conditions make it particularly suitable for engineering hardened steels and alloy steels. c‐BN was first synthesized from hexagonal BN (h‐BN) by Wentorf under high pressure...
Boron carbide is well known as an extremely hard material. It is known to have a high melting point, low theoretical density, exceptional wear resistance and is noted as an excellent neutron absorber for use in nuclear shielding. Boron carbide is known to suffer from a loss in compressive strength in high pressure events due to amorphization. DFT simulations indicate that the introduction of silicon...
Boron carbide is an extremely hard yet lightweight material with excellent mechanical properties. These properties have led to the extensive use of boron carbide as an armor material. The paper discusses the processing of Boron Rich Boron Carbide where mixtures of amorphous boron and rapid carbothermally reduced boron carbide are sintered to produce dense boron‐rich boron carbide over a range of stoichiometries...
Composites of reaction bonded silicon carbide (RBSC) with diamond particles have a huge potential as an armor material because of the high hardness of both the SiC and diamond phases. The SiC matrix particles are varied from an average size of 12µm to 50µm and the diamond content, incorporating a 22 µm particle, is increased from 0 to approximately 20 vol%. This paper represents a study that relates...
Silicon carbide (SiC) is an important material in industry and defense due to its favorable mechanical, chemical and thermal properties. In the presence of oxygen, silicon carbide powders react to form a thin oxide layer (SiO2) on their surfaces. This oxide layer can inhibit the densification of solid‐state sintered silicon carbide and result in undesirable effects on the dense microstructure. This...
High melting temperature, high hardness, low theoretical density, high thermal and electrical conductivity values of TiB2 make it an important hard material which can be used in number of applications. TiB2 was produced by borothermic reduction reaction of titania. It has a simple hexagonal crystal structure and it has a low theoretical density. Metallic Ti‐Ti bonds and strong covalent B‐B and Ti‐B...
Alumina has been widely used for personal armour plate due to its relatively low cost, acceptable hardness and fracture toughness. With the increasing threat level, a much improved ceramic material with better ballistic performance and lighter weight is required. This paper is presents a research work, where alumina reinforced with 2D and 3D alumina fiber mats has been successfully developed for evaluation...