On the Ballistic Response of Rapidly-Prototyped Alumina

Abstract

Production of ceramic armour solutions on-demand / in-theatre would have significant logistical and military advantages. However, such near net-shape manufacturing technology is relatively immature compared to conventional sintering of ceramics. Here, compressed gas-guns allowed investigation of the ballistic performance of a series of rapidly-prototyped (RP) alumina tiles of 97.2% of the density of Sintox FATM. Both forward- and reverseballistic experiments were undertaken. These experiments employed the depth-ofpenetration technique and flash X-ray as primary diagnostics respectively. Overall, the RP alumina was found to exhibit useful ballistic properties, successfully defeating steel-cored (AP) 7.62 × 39 mm BXN rounds at velocities of up-to c.a.850 m/s, while exhibiting comparable failure modes to conventionally sintered armour-grade Sintox FATM. The results from both sets of experiments were complimentary and clearly indicated the potential of such RP materials to play an active role in provision of real-world body armour solutions.