Design and ballistic penetration of the ceramic composite armor

Abstract The aim of this study is mainly to explore the rational design of the composite backplates, and combine with the ceramic cylinder layer to construct a high-performance armor system. Considering the gradually ignored investigation about the third layer material in the widely accepted sandwich construction, we chose three materials (Ti6Al4V, carbon fiber plate, and aluminum alloy) as the third layer respectively and combined with the Ti6Al4V (first layer) and UHMWPE (middle layer) to form the composite backplates, finally constructing the armor systems with the alumina ceramic materials. Furthermore, the penetration process against the 12.7 mm armor piercing projectile and the ballistic mechanism of each layer in the composite backplates were experimentally and numerically discussed in details. The results indicated that comparing with the other third layer of material (carbon fiber plate and aluminum alloy) in the composite backplates, Ti6Al4V provided a strong supporting role to the first layer and simultaneously enhanced the energy balance function from the middle layer of UHMWPE, showing a great bulletproof property.