USA as Represented by Secretary of the Navy

Other

E.i. Dupont De Nemours and Company

Bridgestone/firestone, Inc.

Charles M Roland

Raymond M Gamache

Daniel Fragiadakis

Peter H Mott

Mark F Sonnenschein

Georg G Bohm

Roshdy Barsoum

Carl Giller

Teddy M Keller

Philip John Dudt

Arthur E Oberster

Steven E Schonfeld

Alyssa Littlestone

Chester F Poranski, Jr

Riccardo Casalini

Bryce Vanarsdalen

Craig A Trask

Irina Zemel

Howard L Schrader

Roshdy G S Barsoum

A lightweight armor system providing blast protection and ballistic protection against small arms fire, suitable for use in helmets, personnel or vehicle protection, and other armor systems. A hard substrate is coated on the front surface with a thin elastomeric polymer layer, in which hollow ceramic or metal spheres are encapsulated. The coating layer having a thin elastomeric polymer layer with encapsulated metal or ceramic hollow spheres can be stand-alone blast protection, or can be added to an underlying structure. The glass transition temperature of the polymer is preferably between negative fifty Celsius and zero Celsius.

Polymer coatings with embedded hollow spheres for armor for blast and ballistic mitigation

Composite armor and armor systems according to the invention incorporate substrates that delay and reduce compressive waves associated with impacts from reflecting off of the back surface of ceramic front face armor as tensile waves, which may damage or destroy the front face armor material. The composite armor and armor systems incorporating syntactic substrates and backed by a high strength fiber backing exhibit increased mass efficiency and reduced blunt force trauma resulting from ballistic impacts.

Porous refractory armor substrate

A coating of atactic polypropylene over a transparent armor substrate improves resistance to penetration while allowing convenient repair of minor abrasions and scratches.

Polymer coatings for enhanced and field-repairable transparent armor

A front-facing armor system utilizing a composite laminate backed by a high hardness substrate. The composite laminate comprises a series of first and second layers. The first layer of the bi-layer laminate system is a polymer with a density of at least 1.8 g/cmand having both an amorphous and crystalline phase, and having phase transformation pressure of at least 0.5 GPa at a temperature of 20&#xb0; C. The second layer of each bi-layer provides acoustic impedance mismatch to generate reflections of the incident compression wave following ballistic impact. Under ballistic impact, the polymer comprising the armor system undergoes a shock-induced transition resulting in a marked change in microstructure and mechanical behavior, providing a significant kinetic energy absorption mechanism.

Front-facing fluoropolymer-coated armor composite

A composite article having blast and ballistic resistance suitable for helmets, personal protection and hard armor applications comprises a high-strain hardening elastomeric layer and a layer of continuous yarns having a tenacity of 15 grams per dtex and a modulus of at least 500 grams per dtex or an oriented polyethylene sheet layer having a modulus ten times greater in one direction than in another direction.

Blast and ballistic improvement in helmets

An armor system with a composite laminate having at least four alternating layers (two bi-layers) of a first material and a second material, the first material having a lower acoustic impedance than the second material. The first material is an elastomer and the second material can be a hard material such as steel, aluminum, or ceramic, or an elastomer with a higher acoustic impedance than the first material. The laminate can include many alternating layers of the first and second materials, and can be adhered or affixed to a thicker armor substrate. Additional protective elements such as corrugated metal-ceramic panels and armored glass cylinders can be added to improve resistance to armor piercing rounds, explosively formed penetrators, or other threats.

Multi-ply heterogeneous armor with viscoelastic layers

Methods for forming armored glass cylinders suitable for improving resistance of armor to armor piercing rounds, explosively formed penetrators, or other threats. Cool a cylindrical glass or ceramic element to a temperature below that of a cylindrical casing, place the cylindrical glass or ceramic element into the cylindrical casing while the cylindrical glass or ceramic element is cool, and seal the cylindrical casing and allow the temperature of the cylindrical glass or ceramic element to rise, such that the cylindrical casing compresses the cylindrical glass or ceramic element. Alternately, heat a metal cylindrical casing, press glass or ceramic into the cylinder while the metal cylinder is at an elevated temperature, seal the metal cylindrical casing while metal cylindrical casing is at an elevated temperature, and allow the metal cylinder to cool, such that when cooled, the cylindrical casing will compress the glass in all directions.

Method for forming cylindrical armor elements

Methods for forming armored glass cylinders suitable for improving resistance of armor to armor piercing rounds, explosively formed penetrators, or other threats. Cool a cylindrical glass or ceramic element to a temperature below that of a cylindrical casing, place the cylindrical glass or ceramic element into the cylindrical casing while the cylindrical glass or ceramic element is cool, and seal the cylindrical casing and allow the temperature of the cylindrical glass or ceramic element to rise, such that the cylindrical casing compresses the cylindrical glass or ceramic element. Alternately, heat a metal cylindrical casing, press glass or ceramic into the cylinder while the metal cylinder is at an elevated temperature, seal the metal cylindrical casing while metal cylindrical casinger is at an elevated temperature, and allow the metal cylinder to cool, such that when cooled, the cylindrical casing will compress the glass in all directions.

An armor system with a composite laminate having at least four alternating layers (two bi-layers) of a first material and a second material, the first material having a lower acoustic impedance than the second material. The first material is a viscoelastic polymer with a glass transition temperature less than the expected operational temperature range, and the second material can be a hard material such as steel, aluminum, or ceramic. The laminate can include many alternating layers of elastomer and hard material, and can be adhered or affixed to a thicker armor substrate. The second material layer can be a layer of hollow or solid spheres. Additional protective elements such as front surface hemispheres or conical projections, and corrugated panels can be added to improve resistance to armor piercing rounds, explosively formed penetrators, or other threats.

Multi-ply heterogeneous armor with viscoelastic layers and hemispherical, conical, and angled laminate strikeface projections

An armor system with a composite laminate having at least four alternating layers (two bi-layers) of a first material and a second material, the first material having a lower acoustic impedance than the second material. The first material is a viscoelastic polymer with a glass transition temperature less than the expected operational temperature range, and the second material can be a hard material such as steel, aluminum, or ceramic. The laminate can include many alternating layers of elastomer and hard material, and can be adhered or affixed to a thicker armor substrate. Additional protective elements such as corrugated metal-ceramic panels and armored glass cylinders can be added to improve resistance to armor piercing rounds, explosively formed penetrators, or other threats.

Multi-ply heterogeneous armor with viscoelastic layers and cylindrical armor elements

Multi-ply heterogeneous armor with viscoelastic layers and a corrugated front surface

A high-speed tensile test device is disclosed, which measures the stress-strain behavior, up to failure, of polymeric materials, at high strains (as much as 1000%), and high strain rates (up to 10/s). A weight, when dropped down a vertical track, impacts two L-levers positioned below and on each side of the weight, pushing the horizontal arms of the L-levers. The L-levers have cable connected to the vertical arms of the L-levers and are looped around pulleys, then connected to shuttles located on a horizontal track. The shuttles are attached to load cells, which are connected to grips that hold a sample to be tested. When the horizontal arms of the L-levers are pushed by the weight, they pivot, causing the cables to pull on the shuttles, load cell, and grip, which move in an outward direction, stretching the sample.

Impact tensile test machine

A process for making a vinylidene fluoride-co-trifluoroethylene networked polymer comprising the steps of: providing a poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-trifluoroethylene) copolymer; mixing the copolymer with a peroxide and a coagent to form a curing mixture; and processing the curing mixture such that the peroxide, in combination with the coagent, crosslinks the copolymer to form a networked polymer.

Growing community of inventors

Waldorf, MD, United States of America

Charles M Roland